During our Level 10 Meeting, our leadership team repeatedly skips straight into discussing solutions before everyone agrees on what the actual issue is. How do we enforce the Identify step of IDS so we stop solving symptoms?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Leadership teams fail at IDS because smart, aggressive executives love to solve problems. When someone presents a frustration, the room immediately jumps to brainstorming fixes before clarifying what actually broke. Solving the wrong problem creates busywork, frustrates the team, and leaves the root cause alive.

To fix this, the Integrator must strictly police the boundary between Identify and Discuss. The person who brought the issue gets two sentences to define the problem. They are not permitted to propose a solution yet. Once stated, the Integrator asks the room: Is that the real problem, or is that a symptom of a deeper issue?

Keep digging until the issue is framed as one of three things: an Accountability Chart gap, a broken core process, or a person issue. If someone starts pitching an operational solution during this phase, the Integrator must intervene immediately: Stop discussing solutions. We are still identifying the issue. Only when the room nods in full agreement on a single, clear issue statement do you transition into Discuss. Taking five minutes to define the core issue makes the Discuss and Solve steps take less than three minutes.