During our Level 10 Meeting, we frequently run into complex, multi-week issues that are too massive to solve with a simple to-do, yet the team keeps trying to chip away at them week after week instead of turning them into official Rocks. How do we draw the line between a weekly issue and a quarterly priority?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

It is easy for a leadership team to get bogged down in the weekly Level 10 Meeting™ by trying to solve issues that are far too large for a seven-day to-do list. When you spend three consecutive weeks discussing the same complex operational problem, you are not running an effective IDS® session. You are treating a Rock like a weekly issue.

To fix this, your facilitator must enforce a strict rule: if an issue cannot be fully resolved with one or two weekly to-dos, it is not a weekly issue. It is a quarterly priority.

When you identify a problem that requires deep research, system changes, or multi-departmental coordination, stop trying to solve it in the room. Instead, solve the issue today by creating a to-do for a single leader to draft a Rock scope.

During your next quarterly structuring session, bring that scoped item to the table and formally define it as a company or individual Rock. This keeps your weekly meetings focused on high-velocity, tactical execution, while ensuring that your massive strategic initiatives get the ninety-day focus they require to be completed successfully.