In our rush to solve issues during IDS, our leadership team has a tendency to assign three or four weekly to-dos to a single leader to fix one minor problem, creating a massive task bottleneck by the following week. How do we discipline our solution phase to keep our action items lean?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Over-correcting during the Solve step is a common facilitation failure. In an effort to feel productive, teams often generate a flurry of weekly to-dos that clutter the list and overwhelm individual leaders. This administrative bloat leads to missed commitments and stalls your overall traction.

To keep your action items lean, focus on the single next step required to move the issue forward. During the Solve phase of IDS®, ask the owner of the issue, What is the one action you can realistically complete within the next seven days to resolve this?

Never assign multiple complex tasks to address a single problem. If an issue requires a series of coordinated actions across departments, assign one leader to coordinate the next meeting or draft the initial plan.

Ensure every to-do is clear, realistic, and truly achievable in one week. If a proposed task is too complex, scale it back or turn it into a milestone. By keeping your weekly to-dos highly focused and limited to the absolute minimum necessary steps, you maintain a high completion rate and keep your operations simple and agile.