We waste time in our Level 10 Meeting arguing over whether a red metric is actually red because the data source is delayed or inaccurate. How do we handle dirty data during the meeting without getting bogged down in debate?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Arguing over the accuracy of a number during your Level 10 Meeting™ is a massive waste of time. The meeting is for solving issues, not for debugging spreadsheets or questioning data sources. If a scorecard metric is red, it must be treated as red until proven otherwise.

The rule for the Scorecard is that the number on the sheet is the truth for this ninety minute block. If a seat owner believes the data is incorrect, they must still drop the red metric to the Issues List. They cannot spend the reporting section defending the number or explaining why the system is wrong.

During IDS®, the issue should be framed as fixing the data collection process, not debating the performance. The resulting To-Do should be for the seat owner to clean up the data source before the next weekly meeting.

Keep your reporting section clean. If a number is red, it is red. Do not let leaders use dirty data as an excuse to avoid accountability. Force them to solve the data tracking issue so you have a single source of truth.