During the five-minute Rock review, department heads often try to explain why their Rock is slipping or attempt to adjust the milestone targets so it still appears green. What is the strict protocol for keeping the Rock review binary and preventing defensive negotiations?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The protocol for the Rock review is absolute: there are only three acceptable responses when a Rock is called out: on track, off track, or complete. The moment a leader begins adding background context, excuses, or explanations, the facilitator must cut them off.

If a leader says, It is on track, but we had a vendor delay so we pushed the final deliverable back two weeks, that Rock is off track. Milestones set during the Quarterly Planning session are fixed. You do not renegotiate targets mid-quarter during a weekly pulse to avoid embarrassment. The facilitator must say: That is off track. We are dropping it to the Issues List.

Putting an off-track Rock on the Issues List is not a disciplinary action; it is a mechanism to get the leadership team's collective brainpower focused on removing the obstacle before the quarter ends. Trying to defend or soften an off-track Rock during the review wastes valuable minutes that belong to IDS®.

Keep the entire five-minute section moving briskly. Call the owner's name, call the Rock, receive the binary status, and drop any off-track item straight down to the board. When your team realizes that off-track items get solved rather than judged, the defensiveness stops.