Lesson 10: Strategy: 3 Big Rocks

“That which holds the attention, determines the action.” — William James

Welcome to Lesson 10 of the B-Tribe Business Mastery Program.

In this lesson we explore an extremely powerful concept introduced by Jim Collins in his book Good to Great.

Visualise a couple of large rocks; a handful of pebbles; and a cup of sand.

Now imagine you need to get them all – all the sand, pebbles and rocks – into a glass jar.

Is there enough room for them all? If you fill the jar with the sand or pebbles first, you’ll never be able to find space for the bigger rocks. However, if you put the big rocks in first, then the small rocks will fill in the spaces between the larger rocks, and the sand will fill the tiny gaps. Everything fits. It just depends on what you prioritise first.

Yet day in and day out, owners put sand and pebbles before the big rocks.

The sand in our working lives are all the low-priority tasks that constantly demand our attention – all the emails, phone calls and distractions.

The pebbles represent the higher value tasks that are not critical strategic drivers.

And the big rocks are the few core foundational strategies that will propel your business toward your long-term goal.

The Big Rocks

The “Big Rocks” concept is a principal from The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R Covey.

Focussing continuously on your big rocks accelerates your progress toward your long-term goal. You simply cannot focus on everything at once. As the saying goes, when everything is important, nothing is important. By laser focussing on your most impactful strategies, you declutter your mind (and to-do list) and progress improves exponentially.

Your big rocks need to have the following attributes:

• Identify and work on 3 big rocks per quarter
• Your big rocks are the most important strategies that’ll move you toward your long-term goal
• Your rocks should be specific, measurable and attainable
• Each of your big rocks should be assigned to the person accountable, and given a due-by date
• Each person in your leadership team should have their own (3 or so) quarterly big rocks
• Progress on big rocks is reviewed at every weekly, monthly and quarterly meeting.

Note: Invariably when you’re initially identifying your big rocks, you may uncover 10 to 20 important strategies. You need to prioritise these and focus on only the top 3.

Connecting your BHAG, Profit per X and Big Rocks

In previous lessons we introduced the concepts of the Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) and Profit per X.

To summarise, your BHAG is your long term inspirational and aspirational goal. It unifies your team in pursuit of an almost-impossible challenge. Your Profit per X is your economic engine – the foundational metric that drives your business toward achieving your BHAG.

So how do you achieve such a long term aspirational goal?

That’s where the Big Rocks come in!

As the saying goes: “How do you eat an elephant? One mouth full at a time.” Your Big Rocks are chunked down, 90-day sprints, toward your BHAG.

A lofty ten to fifteen-year goal is intangible and distant. Whilst it will unify and inspire a team, it won’t keep them motivated and energised week in and week out for fifteen years! That’s why you need to break your BHAG down into tangible, achievable, measurable step-goals.

By focussing on your “3 Big Rocks” – the three most significant initiatives that will drive the business toward its long-term goal – each and every 90-days – not only will your team maintain inspiration, they’ll be continuously laser focussed on the most leveraged strategic activity, each and every quarter.

Actions

1. Download the “B-Tribe Sprint Sheet” worksheet (link below).
2. Meet with your team and identify your 3 Big Rocks for the next quarter.
3. Ensure all members of the leadership team have 3 Big Rocks, with due dates.
4. Incorporate the review of the Big Rocks into weekly, monthly and quarterly meetings.