Long Term Objectives vs. Company Rocks (You Need Meat too, on the Bone)

I recently received an email from one of my EOS Implementation clients, which read as follows:

“I understand that Rocks are defined as not urgent but important projects, they need to be SMART and achievable in 60-90 days. What I don’t fully grasp is how rocks relate to company objectives, which I feel like will take longer than 60-90 days?”

Company Rocks

Setting Company Rocks give you stepping-stones toward your company objectives. For example, the goal of building a highly functional and effective leadership team will take at least a couple of years and could include accomplishing Rocks such as:

  • Finding a promoting the right people;
  • Designing and implementing training and development programs; and
  • Implementing systems and tools for group health and accountability (like EOS / Traction).

Encourage Accountability

Reaching long term objectives requires other things too, such as the discipline of holding quarterly, monthly and weekly meetings and sticking to the agenda… and holding each other accountable to hit Scorecard metrics and creating an open and healthy environment where people let their guard down and willing to be vulnerable and have fierce conversations with each other. Solving difficult issues as a team openly and directly where every voice is heard is, in most cases, a more effective path than carrying out orders or using back channels politics to influence agendas.

Similarly, peer accountability is more powerful than individual accountability, as excuses are hard to disregard by the boss in a one on one meeting, but they are mute in front of your peers.

Align Employees to Company Mission

For the team to be highly effective, members have to be aligned around a common vision and have a clear understanding of where the company is going, long term. This may extend beyond the career of the founder of the company, since you are building an organization that is bigger than any member of the team.

When the team participates in articulating the company’s Ten Year Target, gets clear on its Core Values, Core Focus and Niche, and understands the Economic Model that allows the business to be consistently growing and profitable, it becomes easier and more inspiring for everyone to row the boat in the same direction.

So, to sum it up, Rocks are necessary to progress towards achieving the long-term objectives of the business, but consistently using the other tools in the arsenal of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (Scorecard, Accountability Chart, Meeting Pulse, etc.) are equally important.

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