Q. #3 - How do you talk about and use the answers to these questions?

The final question from Patrick Lencioni's book, The 3 Big Questions for the Frantic Family, seems like a no-brainer. It only makes sense that you would talk about and evaluate the answers to the first two questions. But in reality, this is often where the ball drops.

Honestly, this is where Dennis and I have struggled the most... setting aside time to take a candid look at how we are doing with our rallying cry. Lencioni says that regular meetings help "to keep its context alive." We answered the 3rd question like this: Every Sunday night we will discuss and evaluate progress of our defining objectives. This is not meant to be a long drawn out event. Ten to 15 minutes should be the max. And do you know how often we forget to do that? More often than we'd like to admit.

Lencioni suggests writing all three answers on a white board posted in a highly visible spot... like the kitchen. Dennis and I chose to write it out on card stock and stick it on the refrig (see below). Remember, it doesn't have to be perfect or creative in looks. You just want it to be visible or this whole thing takes on the old adage "out of sight, out of mind."


Along with the discussion, Lencioni encourages using the following color code (definitions mine) to evaluate your defining objectives.

Green = going great, making good progress
Yellow = need to pick up the pace on this one
Red = needs attention or no progress at all

Dennis and I basically verbalize our progress mentioning the color key to evaluate. If you want or need this to be more structured, Lencioni provides a nice worksheet on this site that makes it super easy for you. Just scroll down and download the PDF file of the "frantic family model." He gives a brief overview of each question, a simple worksheet, and two samples of how others might answer the three questions.

With one week left in our 3-month rallying cry we've given ourselves mostly green lights and it's gone by really fast. It's definitely been a positive and rewarding experience. In some cases, there will be a finish line to the rallying cry. For instance, if a family's rallying cry is to remodel the house, obviously there is an ending point. Since our rallying cry had to do with getting healthy, our defining objectives will be something we want to maintain beyond the 3-month period. Our rallying cry was something that gave us a boost towards a desired goal.

We're on a good roll to healthy living and looking forward to our next rallying cry!