We consistently struggle with Rocks that drag on past the ninety-day mark because of unexpected cross-departmental bottlenecks. How do we map out and resolve interdependencies between leadership team members before we commit to our quarterly Rocks?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The failure to complete quarterly Rocks often has less to do with individual effort and more to do with unmapped dependencies. When a leader sets a Rock that requires significant input or work from another department, but that second department has not committed to it, the Rock is doomed from the start. You end up with bottlenecked projects and finger-pointing at the end of ninety days.

To solve this, you must run a thorough dependency check during your quarterly planning session, right after you draft your proposed Rocks and before they are finalized. Each leader must pitch their Rocks to the room and explicitly state what they need from other departments to cross the finish line. If the marketing leader needs technical support from the development team to build a landing page, that requirement must be discussed openly.

If the receiving leader does not have the capacity to support that Rock alongside their own priorities, you have two choices. You must either scale back the scope of the Rock, table it for a future quarter, or have the supporting leader take it on as one of their own Rocks. Never allow a leader to leave the room with a Rock that depends on silent assumptions or uncommitted resources.