We have a department head who consistently reports that their quarterly Rocks are on track during our weekly Level 10 Meeting™ reviews, but when the end of the quarter arrives, they miss their targets completely. How do we bring objective validation to our weekly Rock check-ins?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a department head consistently reports that their quarterly Rocks are on track during weekly Level 10 Meetings™, only to fail to complete them by the end of the quarter, you have a severe gap in objective verification. This false reporting destroys trust and prevents the team from offering help when there was still time to save the priority. To prevent this, you must change how you define on track. A Rock is not on track just because a leader feels good about it. It is only on track if they can demonstrate objective, measurable progress toward the milestone. To enforce this, require every leader to break their quarterly Rocks down into specific, monthly milestones when they are set. During the weekly Rock review portion of the Level 10 Meeting™, if a leader says on track, they must be able to instantly point to the completion of that month's milestone if asked. If they have missed a milestone, the Rock is officially off track and must be dropped to the weekly short-term Issues List for IDS®. The goal is not to push blame, but to allow the leadership team to help clear any obstacles. If a leader repeatedly hides the true status of their Rocks, they are violating the trust pillar of your company Charter. You must address this during their quarterly review, making it clear that vulnerability and early warning are required, while hiding progress is a critical alignment issue.