---
name: rocks
description: Set and run the 3-7 quarterly priorities that define the 90-day window. Use when starting a new quarter, doing a mid-quarter check-in, or running an end-of-quarter retro. Forces outcomes (not activities), single owners, written done-checks, and weekly status calls.
---

# rocks — the 3-7 outcomes that make this quarter a win

A quarterly priority is **an outcome the team commits to in a 90-day window**. Not an activity. Not a wish. An outcome with a done-check.

## The rules

- **Pick 3-7.** More than 7 = everything is a priority = nothing is. Fewer than 3 = sandbagging the quarter.
- **Outcomes, not activities.** "Launch X feature to 100 paying customers" — yes. "Work on X feature" — no. "Ops team makes decisions from data weekly" — yes. "Build dashboards" — no.
- **One owner per priority.** "The team owns this" means no one owns it. Name one person whose name goes next to the outcome.
- **Done-check written at the start.** Measurable, time-bound, single owner. If you can't write the done-check on day one, you don't have a priority — you have a vague hope. Send it back.

## Weekly check-ins (this is where the discipline lives)

At the weekly sync, every quarterly priority gets called: **on track / off track / done.** That's it. No paragraph. One word.

- **On track** — move on.
- **Off track** — surface as an issue. Route to `issues-ids` in the same meeting.
- **Done** — celebrate it; remove it from the list.

## Re-scope at the 4-week mark, not the 12-week mark

The first time a priority is off track, you re-scope. Not the second. Not at the end of the quarter. Late re-scoping is a failure of weekly check-ins, not a failure of the priority.

Three re-scope moves: **cut the scope** (deliver less), **extend the window** (push to next quarter, name what gives), **kill it** (admit it was wrong and free the owner). All three are honest. "Just push harder" is not a move.

## Anti-patterns

- **15 priorities** — leadership couldn't choose, so the team is choosing for them by missing most of the list.
- **"Improve X"** — not measurable, not a priority. Rewrite as a specific outcome with a number and a date.
- **No done-check** — guaranteed end-of-quarter argument about whether it counts.
- **End-of-quarter scramble** — you skipped weekly check-ins. The scramble isn't the problem; the silence for 12 weeks was.
- **Shared ownership** — no one will do the unowned work.

## Triggers

Quarterly planning. Mid-quarter check-in. End-of-quarter retro. "We're three weeks in and nothing's moving." "We have a quarter but no one can tell me what success looks like."

Pairs with `weekly-sync` (where the check-ins happen), `issues-ids` (where off-track priorities get solved), and `scorecard` (leading metrics often predict whether a priority will land before the check-in catches it).