Our leadership team ends up with fifteen Rocks every quarter because everything feels like a priority. How do we ruthlessly trim our list down to the critical few without letting our day-to-day operations suffer?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

If everything is a priority, nothing is. Having fifteen Rocks on your plate is a sign of lack of focus, and it guarantees that none of them will be executed excellently.

To trim your quarterly priorities, you must understand the difference between a Rock and your day-to-day job. Your day-to-day operations are managed through your Accountability Chart roles, your weekly Scorecard metrics, and your Level 10 Meeting™ Issues List. A Rock is a high-impact, strategic priority that moves the business forward and takes more than a week to complete.

During your quarterly planning session, list every potential Rock on the board. Then, begin the process of ruthless elimination.

Ask your team:

- If we could only accomplish three things this quarter to move us closer to our annual goals, what would they be?
- Which of these items is actually a daily job responsibility rather than a strategic project?
- Do we have the physical capacity to complete these while still running the business?

Keep trimming until you have no more than three to five Rocks for the company, and three to five Rocks for each individual on the leadership team. This focus ensures your team has the breathing room to execute at a high level.