Big Rocks First: Why Manufacturing Leaders Must Prioritise What Actually Moves the Needle
- padewson
- Mar 16
- 6 min read
Introduction
One of the simplest leadership lessons can also be one of the most powerful.
It’s called the Big Rocks Principle.
Imagine a glass jar sitting on a table.
If you fill the jar with sand first, there’s no room left for the rocks.
But if you place the big rocks in first, the sand naturally fills the gaps.
It’s a simple analogy about time, priorities, and leadership focus.
Yet when you walk through many manufacturing organisations, the jar often looks very different.
Instead of prioritising the work that drives long-term performance, the jar is filled with things like:
📧 Emails
📊 Reports
🔥 Firefighting
📞 Meetings about meetings
📦 Expedites
🧾 Admin tasks
In other words, the sand fills the jar.
And the big rocks—the things that actually drive sustainable performance—never make it in.
This is exactly the challenge many manufacturing leaders face today. And it’s also the problem that Evolve Forward is designed to solve.
The Reality Inside Many Factories
Walk into almost any factory and ask a leadership team what their biggest challenges are.
You’ll hear things like:
“We’re constantly firefighting.”
“We don’t have time to improve the system.”
“Every day something urgent happens.”
“We’re stuck reacting instead of improving.”
Sound familiar?
The problem isn’t usually a lack of effort. In fact, most teams are working incredibly hard.
The real problem is where time and attention are being spent.
When urgent issues dominate the day, the organisation becomes trapped in a cycle:
Problems occur
Teams react quickly
The immediate issue gets solved
The root cause remains
The problem returns later
Over time, the factory becomes a highly efficient firefighting machine rather than a high-performing production system.
And that’s where the Big Rocks Principle becomes so important.
What the “Big Rocks” Really Are in Manufacturing
So what exactly are the big rocks in a manufacturing environment?
They’re the activities that improve the system itself, not just the daily output.
From working with manufacturing organisations and observing high-performing operations, the real big rocks often include:
🪨 Developing People Around the Assets
Machines don’t improve themselves.
High-performing factories invest heavily in:
operator capability
maintenance skills
leadership development
problem-solving capability on the shop floor
When people understand the assets deeply, reliability improves dramatically.
🪨 Stabilising Production Systems
Many operations struggle because their systems are unstable.
Signs of instability include:
frequent breakdowns
unpredictable output
quality variation
excessive changeovers
constant schedule disruption
Stability is the foundation of productivity. Without it, improvement becomes almost impossible.
🪨 Building Repeatable Processes
Great factories don’t rely on heroics.
They rely on repeatable systems.
This means:
standard work
clear escalation processes
structured problem-solving
defined operating rhythms
When processes are repeatable, performance becomes predictable.
🪨 Using Digital Tools Properly
Many factories have invested heavily in technology:
CMMS systems
data platforms
performance dashboards
digital maintenance tools
Yet in many cases, those tools are underused or misunderstood.
Digital systems only create value when they are integrated into daily decision-making.
Otherwise, they simply become another source of reports and admin work.
🪨 Creating Leadership Capability on the Shop Floor
Perhaps the biggest rock of all is leadership capability close to the assets.
High-performing operations empower leaders who can:
solve problems quickly
coach teams
maintain standards
drive continuous improvement
When leadership exists only in meeting rooms, performance stalls.
When leadership exists on the shop floor, performance accelerates.
Why the Big Rocks Often Get Ignored
Here’s the tricky part.
The big rocks are rarely urgent.
Improving leadership capability takes time.
Building repeatable systems requires patience.
Stabilising production involves structured problem-solving.
None of these activities feel as pressing as the daily stream of operational issues.
So what happens?
They get pushed to:
next week
next month
next quarter
But when those rocks are consistently postponed, something predictable happens.
The sand starts running the factory.
The Hidden Cost of Sand
At first glance, sand activities don’t seem harmful.
After all, emails, reports, meetings, and escalations are part of running any business.
The real problem is volume and dominance.
When sand fills most of the jar:
leaders lose strategic focus
improvement work disappears
teams stay reactive
the same problems repeat
Over time, the organisation becomes stuck in a loop of busyness without progress.
And ironically, the more sand that fills the jar, the less time there is to place the big rocks that would actually fix the underlying issues.
How High-Performing Manufacturing Leaders Think Differently
The best manufacturing leaders approach time very differently.
They deliberately protect space for the big rocks.
They ask questions like:
What will improve this system six months from now?
What capability do our people need to build?
Where is instability coming from?
What problems keep returning?
Instead of asking “What’s urgent today?”, they also ask:
“What will matter tomorrow?”
This shift in thinking transforms how factories operate.
Because when the right rocks are placed in the jar first, the sand begins to organise itself around them.
The Evolve Forward Approach
At Evolve Forward, the focus isn’t about doing more work.
It’s about doing the right work first.
The goal is simple:
Align leadership, systems, and people around the assets.
When that alignment happens, something interesting occurs.
The factory begins to shift from:
🔥 Reactive → 🔧 Structured
📉 Unstable → 📈 Predictable
🧯 Firefighting → 🧠 Problem-solving
Instead of spending all their time reacting to issues, leaders begin shaping the system that produces those outcomes.
And that’s when real performance improvements start to appear.
A Simple Big Rocks Leadership Exercise
If you’re a manufacturing leader, here’s a simple exercise worth trying.
Take a step back and ask yourself:
What are the real big rocks in our operation right now?
Try listing them.
For example:
stabilising a critical production line
developing team leaders
improving maintenance strategy
implementing structured problem-solving
aligning digital tools with operations
Now ask a second question:
How much time did we actually spend on those things this week?
The answer is often revealing.
Video: The Big Rocks Principle Explained
This short video explains the Big Rocks concept brilliantly:
It’s a simple visual demonstration, but the leadership lesson behind it is powerful.
Sometimes the most transformative changes begin with something deceptively simple: choosing what goes into the jar first.
A Question for Manufacturing Leaders
If you’re leading a manufacturing operation today, it’s worth reflecting on one question:
What are the real big rocks in your organisation right now?
Are they getting the attention they deserve?
Or is the jar already full of sand?
FAQs
What is the Big Rocks Principle?
The Big Rocks Principle is a time management and leadership concept that emphasizes prioritising the most important activities first. Once those are placed in the schedule, smaller tasks naturally fill the remaining space.
Why is the Big Rocks Principle important in manufacturing?
Manufacturing environments often become reactive due to operational issues and urgent demands. The Big Rocks Principle helps leaders prioritise activities that improve long-term performance rather than just solving daily problems.
What are examples of big rocks in a factory?
Common big rocks include:
developing workforce capability
stabilising production systems
improving maintenance strategies
implementing repeatable processes
building leadership capability on the shop floor
How can manufacturing leaders avoid constant firefighting?
Leaders must deliberately allocate time to improvement activities, root cause analysis, and capability building. By focusing on system improvements, the number of recurring problems decreases.
Final Thoughts
The lesson of the Big Rocks Principle is simple.
But applying it consistently inside a busy manufacturing organisation takes discipline.
Because every day the sand tries to fill the jar.
Emails arrive.
Problems appear.
Meetings multiply.
The challenge for leaders is to ensure that the most important work still gets done first.
When leadership, systems, and people align around the assets, something powerful happens.
The factory stops being controlled by chaos.
And the sand no longer runs the operation.
Ready to Focus on the Right Rocks?
If you’re a plant manager, operations leader, or manufacturing executive looking to improve asset performance and move beyond constant firefighting, the conversation starts with clarity.
What are the real priorities?
What systems need strengthening?
What capabilities need developing?
At Evolve Forward, the focus is helping organisations place the right rocks in the jar first.
📩 Book a conversation and explore how your operation can evolve forward.
Sometimes the biggest shift begins with a simple question:
What truly belongs in your jar? 🚀
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