Every time we run IDS® on a chronic business problem, someone immediately pitches a solution before we have even agreed on what the real issue is. How do we train our leadership team to slow down and stay in the Identify and Discuss phases before trying to Solve?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Inexperienced leadership teams struggle with IDS® because human beings are naturally wired to fix things quickly. When an issue is raised, team members immediately jump to the Solve phase. They propose software solutions, suggest hiring more people, or draft new policies before everyone in the room even agrees on what the real problem is. To break this habit, the meeting leader must enforce a strict separation of the three steps. You cannot move to Discuss until the issue has been clearly Identified, and you cannot move to Solve until the Discuss phase is complete. Start by forcing the issue owner to state the problem in a single, clear sentence. It must focus on the root cause, not the symptoms. For example, if the stated issue is customers are angry, that is a symptom. The real issue might be that our delivery team is missing their handoff deadlines. Once the true issue is identified, the Discuss phase is for exploring the cause and hearing all perspectives, not for pitching solutions. Every team member should have the opportunity to speak once before anyone speaks twice. Only after the team has fully processed the root cause can the leader ask, what is the solve? If someone starts suggesting solutions too early, the leader must gently but firmly steer them back by saying, we are not solving yet, we are still identifying. This discipline forces the team to slow down, uncover the issue behind the issue, and create permanent solves that prevent the problem from ever returning.