How to Create Rocks in Ninety

Rocks® are the 90-day priorities that drive your team forward, quarter after quarter. Most teams identify Rock candidates during Quarterly Planning Meetings and refine their scope during the first couple of weeks of the quarter. This article covers every way to create a Rock in Ninety, how to keep them visible to the right people, and how to fix the most common issues that come up along the way.

Any licensed user with the role of Owner, Admin, Manager, or Team Member can create Rocks on the Essentials, Accelerate, and Thrive plans. Observers can view Rocks but cannot create or own them.

What are Rocks?

Rocks are quarterly goals that help teams make progress toward their organization's annual goals and vision for the future. They're significant objectives outside the scope of daily work, such as launching a new project, improving a process, or completing an objective within a larger initiative.

In EOS®, each Rock has one accountable owner. That person doesn't have to do all the work themselves, but they're responsible for making sure the Rock gets done.

Three ways to create a Rock

There are three ways to add a new Rock in Ninety. Use whichever fits your workflow best.

Using the Create button to create Rocks in Ninety

The Create button is the fastest way to add a Rock from anywhere in the app.

To create a new Rock from the global Create button:

1. Click Create in the top-right corner of any page.
2. Select Rock from the dropdown at the top of the modal.
3. Optional: Click Help me draft a SMART Rock to launch Maz, Ninety's AI companion, which guides you through building a well-structured Rock in 5–10 minutes. This option is only available on the Thrive plan. See Create SMART Rocks with AI Assistance from Maz for details.
4. Click the owner avatar on the left of the title field to assign an accountable user. If you don't see the intended user, change teams from the dropdown.
5. Write the Rock's title. 
6. Write a description (optional). We recommend using the SMART methodology to make expectations clear for the owner.
7. Set the due date. The default is 90 days from the current date.
8. Set the status: on-track, off-track, complete, or canceled.
9. Select the primary team responsible for this Rock.
10. Use the Other Teams dropdown to share the Rock with additional teams (optional).
11. Click Create Rock.

Creating Rocks in the Rocks tool in Ninety

You can also add a Rock directly to a team member's card in the Rocks tool. This pre-populates the owner and team based on the card you click, so it's the fastest method when you know exactly who the Rock belongs to.

To create a new Rock from the Rocks tool:

1. Click Rocks from the left navigation.
2. Select your team from the Team dropdown.
3. Click + Add Rock at the bottom of the team member's card.
4. Write the Rock's title and press Enter or click the checkmark. The Rock is saved immediately with the team member as the owner.
5. Click the Rock's row to open its details panel and complete the rest of the setup:
   • Add or adjust the owner.
   • Write a description.
   • Set a due date and status.
   • Add milestones.
   • Add attachments and comments.
   • Share with additional teams.

Creating linked Rocks from existing items in Ninety

A linked Rock connects a new Rock to an existing item in Ninety, such as a To-Do, Issue, Headline, or another Rock. The linked Rock is a separate item with its own status, milestones, and completion tracking.

Linked Rocks show the item they're connected to in the Linked Items section of the details panel.

To create a linked Rock from an existing item:

1. Right-click the item's row in any tool (To-Dos, Issues, Rocks, and so on), or click the ellipsis on the item's row to open the more actions menu.
2. Click Create Linked Rock from the dropdown.
3. Edit the details in the popup:
   • The due date defaults to 90 days out.
   • The title and description are copied from the original item.
4. Click Create Linked Rock.

To unlink a Rock from another item:

1. Click Rocks from the left navigation.
2. Click the intended Rock to open its details panel.
3. Scroll to the Linked Items section and click Edit.
4. Click Unlink.

How many Rocks should we set?

A common mistake is setting too many Rocks. More Rocks means more split focus, and split focus is the fastest way to miss your quarterly targets. However, the number of Rocks your team should set is highly subjective. If your company is working with an EOS Implementer, we recommend reaching out to them for guidance based on your organization's specific needs and goals.

The EOS® rule of thumb:

• Individual team members: one to three Rocks per quarter.
• Leadership Team (company-wide): three to seven Rocks per quarter.

Start with fewer Rocks. Build the habit of consistently hitting 80% completion before adding more.

Can I create a private Rock?

Rocks are always visible to members of the primary team they're assigned to. If you need a Rock that only you can see, the best approach is to create a private team with yourself as the only member, then create your Rocks within that team.

Step 1: Create a new team

Owners, Admins, Managers, and Implementers can create teams. Here's how:

1. Click your name at the bottom of the left navigation.
2. Click Teams.
3. Click Create Team.
4. Write a name for the team (for example, "My Private Rocks").
5. Click Add.

Step 2: Make the team private

1. Click your name at the bottom of the left navigation.
2. Click Teams from the popup.
3. Click the square box in the Private column on your new team.

Only members assigned to a private team can view its content. See Creating New Teams for more about team types and permissions.

Step 3: Create Rocks within that team

Follow any of the Rock creation methods above, assigning your private team as the primary team. Those Rocks will only be visible to you (and any Owner or Admin who adds themselves to the team).

Troubleshooting

The Create Rock button is grayed out. The Create Rock button requires three things before it becomes active: a title, an accountable user, and a primary team. Check that you've:

1. Written a title in the title field.
2. Clicked the owner avatar and assigned an accountable user.
3. Selected a primary team from the Team dropdown.

Once all three are filled in, the button will activate.

"Could not create Rock. Please try again." This error has a few common causes. Work through the checklist below in order.

1. Check the required fields. Confirm the title is written, an owner is assigned, and a team is selected. All three are required to create a Rock.
2. Check the owner's role. Observers, Coaches, and Implementers cannot be assigned as Rock owners. The owner must have the Owner, Admin, Manager, or Team Member role.
3. Check your subscription plan. Rocks are available on all paid plans. The Free plan doesn't include Rock creation.
4. Clear your browser cache. Log out of Ninety, close all Ninety browser tabs, clear your browser's cache and cookies (choose All Time for a full clear), then restart your browser and log back in.
5. Try a different browser or incognito mode. If the error persists after clearing the cache, test in a private browsing window or a different browser.
6. Check for a platform issue. If multiple people on your team are getting the same error at the same time, it may be a platform-level issue rather than a settings problem. Check status.ninety.io for any active incidents.

If none of the above resolves the issue, contact support.

"ACTION UNAVAILABLE — Rock owner is not on the selected team" when using Maz. This error appears when using Maz (Ninety's AI assistant) in one of two situations:

• You're not selected as the Rock owner in the Create window.
• You're trying to start Maz from the My 90 page. Maz must be initiated from the Rocks tool, not from My 90.

To resolve it:

1. Navigate to Rocks from the left navigation.
2. Click + Add Rock under your name on your team's card.
3. Click Help me draft a SMART Rock to launch Maz.

See Create SMART Rocks with AI Assistance from Maz for the full Maz workflow and requirements.