Setting Smart Rocks

Knowing what is important to the future of your business – and what is not – is one of the keys to success. Without this, you may never achieve your vision. 

That is why one of the early focuses of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), is to establish what you want your business to look like in three years time, your goals for your first year to help you achieve this, and your priorities, or Rocks – the three to five things the company needs to do in the next three months.

Setting Smart Rocks: the foundation for a solid business

The problem is that when everything is important, nothing is important.

A business can only discover its priorities once it knows where it is going, so the leadership team needs to sit down and taking a step back and looking at the big picture vision of the organisation.

This is defined in EOS’s simple two page document, the Vision Traction Organiser (V/TO). This document has eight questions that set out where a business is going and the steps it should take to get there. 

Read more: What is your V/TO?

Setting your BHAG

A BHAG is a Big Hairy Audacious Goal. 

Your Big Hairy Audacious Goal invites you to think big for your business. 

It is the big vision – something that the whole company can aim for, get excited about and be proud of. 

Some clients choose 25 years for their end goal; some choose five. We recommend a 10-year target. 

Read more: Setting your BHAG

Work backwards 

Armed with your vision for the future of the business, you then start working backwards. What will the business look like three years from now? Paint a vivid picture of where you think you’ll be. 

That includes your revenue, your turnover, your measurables, and what the business will be doing, how it will be operating. 

From that 3 year picture, everyone can see what the organisation looks like and how they are part of it. Then take a third of that: to realise this three-year vision, what goals do you need to achieve within the next 12 months, and match that with a financial review.

Set out one to seven of the most important goals that will enable to you to achieve that 12 month plan.  

One you have your 12 month goals, the next step is to decide what needs to happen in the next 90 days to make that goal a reality. 

Set regular Rocks

Each quarter, set between three and seven priorities, or Rocks, for this 90-day period. 

One person on the leadership team owns those Rocks and is responsible for making sure they get done. They will then have three to seven of own priorities, or Rocks, for their department. 

Setting SMART Rocks

The best Rocks are “smart” – they meet these five criteria:

Specific (simple, sensible, significant) 

Measurable (meaningful, motivating) 

Achievable (agreed, attainable) 

Realistic (relevant, resourced, results-based) 

Timely (have a deadline).

Setting SMART Rocks ensures you have set a realistic goal with specific metrics for knowing when it is complete, rather than something which can easily be misinterpreted or ignored.

The team at Bold Clarity take pride in helping CEOs and entrepreneurs grow their business. We offer you a complimentary introduction to EOS, so contact us now to find out how we can help your business.