Every time we set quarterly Rocks, an unexpected client crisis or market shift hits around week six, and we end up abandoning or renegotiating our goals. How do we keep our Rocks on track to finish when our daily business landscape is highly volatile?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

If your quarterly Rocks constantly get derailed by week six, you are failing to distinguish between daily operational noise and true strategic priorities. A business will always have fires, and clients will always have emergencies. If you allow these events to halt your Rocks, you are letting the urgent hijack the important.

First, understand that once a Rock is set during your quarterly planning session, it is locked. There is no renegotiating, shrinking, or deleting a Rock mid-quarter. If an emergency occurs, you must solve it through your weekly Level 10 Meeting™ issues list, not by sacrificing your strategic goals. If a Rock truly cannot be completed due to a catastrophic business shift, it is carried over or killed, but this must be an extreme exception, not a weekly habit.

Second, review your scoping. Most teams fail to finish Rocks because they write them as broad, vague projects. A Rock must be specific, measurable, and realistic for a ninety-day window. Use your weekly Level 10 Meeting™ to track whether your Rocks are on-track or off-track. If a Rock is off-track for two consecutive weeks, it must be put on the IDS® list immediately so the team can help clear the bottleneck.

To build a high-execution culture where Rocks actually cross the finish line, consider engaging a Professional EOS Implementer®. An expert facilitator will help your team master the discipline of ninety-day cycles, ensuring your business stays on track for a clean, highly valuable exit.