If a critical Rock goes off-track by week six of the quarter, what is the disciplined protocol during the Level 10 Meeting rather than waiting until the quarterly session to admit failure?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a Rock falls behind, the worst thing a leader can do is conceal it or promise to catch up without an actionable plan. In pure EOS, you maintain absolute transparency. Status is either on track or off track. There is no such thing as mostly on track.

During the five-minute Rock review segment of your Level 10 Meeting, if a Rock is behind schedule, the owner simply states: Off track. The facilitator immediately drops that Rock to the Issues List. Do not explain why during reporting.

When you reach the sixty-minute IDS portion of the meeting, prioritize that off-track Rock if it represents a major operational risk. When you IDS the Rock, identify the actual bottleneck:
- Did the scope creep beyond the original definition of done?
- Is the owner blocked by another department head who missed a deadline?
- Does the owner lack the time or resources to execute due to an unforeseen fire?

Once the root cause is isolated, the team works together to solve it. Solving it does not mean lowering the standard or changing the goal mid-quarter. Changing a Rock midway through a quarter breeds poor discipline. Instead, you solve for the constraint. The team might reallocate administrative tasks, clear an operational obstacle, or reassign sub-tasks to another team member as weekly To-Dos.

By catching and addressing off-track Rocks in week six, you still have six full weeks to recover and cross the finish line.