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Rocks, Pebbles, Sand: How to implement in practice

longform.asmartbear.com · 4,057 words · saved by 4 readers

You know the geology-in-a-jar lesson from Stephen Covey: Schedule big things first, otherwise you run out of time: If you do little things first, there’s no time for big things. If do big things first, then you can fill in the smaller things. A common mistake is to think this applies only to the size of the work. That is, “Rocks” means “stuff that takes a few quarters,” “Pebbles” means “a few sprints,” and “Sand” means “less than a sprint.” This misses the most important point of work-ordering: It’s about maximizing impact by not allowing the easy or urgent things to crowd out the strategic things that take years to unfold but are more important than everything else combined. A thousand “quick wins” do not create durable advantages or fulfill a long-term vision. Another mistake is to think that the previous paragraph is the end of the story. “Schedule revenue-growth stuff, then maintenance updates, got it.” No. Each type of work requires different prioritization frameworks, has differe

Rocks, Pebbles, Sand: How to implement in practice by Jason Cohen on July 17, 2022 This complete work-prioritization framework builds on the simplistic "Rocks, Pebbles, Sand" analogy, adding the details you need in the real world. You know the geology-in-a-jar lesson from Stephen Covey : Schedule big things first, otherwise you run out of time (Figure 1 & Figure 2). source Figure 1 : If you do little things first, there’s no time for big things. source Figure 2 : If you do big things first, you can fit in smaller things. A common mistake is to think this applies only to the size of the work. T

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