We often reach the end of the quarter and argue about whether a Rock is actually complete because the original scope was too vague. How do we define the finish line for our Rocks at the start of the quarter so there is zero debate on day ninety?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Rocks fail to finish because teams set aspirations instead of concrete deliverables. A Rock that says improve customer service is a recipe for failure. By day ninety, you will argue about whether you actually achieved it.

To fix this, you must define the finish line on day one using a simple checklist of objective milestones. We call this defining the done-done criteria. Every Rock must be written in a way that leaves zero room for debate. It is either done or not done.

When setting Rocks during your Quarterly Pulsing™ session, require the owner of each Rock to list three to five specific, measurable criteria that must be met for the Rock to be considered complete. For example, instead of improve customer service, your Rock should state launch the new ticketing software, train ten support reps, and achieve a response time under two hours.

Write these milestones directly into your tracking software. If the milestones are not clearly defined and agreed upon by the team during your planning session, do not approve the Rock.

By demanding this level of clarity upfront, you eliminate subjective grading at the end of the quarter. Your team will know exactly what success looks like, which prevents procrastination and keeps everyone aligned on the final target.