How to choose Rocks that close the gap to plan

Every quarter, a leadership team running on EOS® sets three to seven company Rocks: the most important things to get done in the next 90 days. It's one of the most useful habits in the system.

The question is where those Rocks come from.

Where Rocks usually come from

In many teams, Rock candidates come from the Issues List, last quarter's unfinished work and whatever feels most pressing. Those are good sources. They produce Rocks that fix real problems. What they rarely produce is a Rock aimed at the gap between where revenue is and where the 1-Year Plan says it should be.

Start the session with the gap

Before brainstorming Rocks, spend ten minutes on the Growth Plan:

1. Where are revenue and profit year to date, against plan?
2. What's the gap in dollars, and is it growing or shrinking?
3. Which driver explains most of it?

Now the team brainstorms with the gap in front of them. Candidate Rocks start to sound different: "Add 15 qualified bids a month," instead of only "Fix the estimating process."

Test each Rock against a driver

For each candidate, ask which Growth Plan driver it moves, and by how much. Some Rocks won't move any driver, and that's fine. Plenty of good Rocks protect the business. But if none of them moves a driver, the quarter is unlikely to close the gap.

Make growth Rocks specific

A good Rock is specific and measurable by the end of the quarter. Growth Rocks are easy to write vaguely and hard to write well. Tie them to the driver:

• Vague: "Grow the referral program." Specific: "Get 10 referral introductions from existing clients this quarter."
• Vague: "Raise prices." Specific: "Move all new proposals to the new rate card by the end of month one."
• Vague: "Improve close rate." Specific: "Review every lost bid over $25,000 and lift the win rate from 22% to 28%."

Ask the closing question

Once the list is set, ask one more question: "If we finish every Rock on this list, will we be on plan by the end of the year?" If the honest answer is no, swap one Rock for something that moves a driver. If nobody can answer with a number, the plan and the data haven't met yet.

That's the gap we help close: we align your own data to your Growth Plan so your team can answer that question every quarter. Start with the Growth Fit Check.