Our leadership team is great at identifying issues during our Level 10 Meeting, but we struggle with the IDS portion because we talk in circles and never actually solve the problems. How do we force our team to make hard decisions and move to action?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Many leadership teams confuse talking about an issue with actually solving it. If your Level 10 Meeting™ consists of ninety minutes of debate with no clear action items, you are wasting time and slowing down your company's growth. You must master the discipline of IDS®: Identify, Discuss, and Solve.

First, make sure you are identifying the real issue, not just a symptom. Often, the first issue raised is just a surface-level complaint. Dig deeper. Ask questions until you find the root cause of the problem.

Second, keep the discussion focused. Do not allow team members to repeat themselves or bring up unrelated grievances. Once everyone has stated their perspective clearly, the discussion is over. More talk will not lead to a better solution.

Third, force a solution. A solution is not just an agreement to keep thinking about it. A real solution results in a concrete action item that is added to the To-Do list. Every To-Do must have one owner and a deadline of seven days.

If the team is struggling to agree on a solution, the leader who owns that seat on the Accountability Chart must make the final decision. Run your meetings with a bias toward action. It is better to make a decision, test it, and adjust later than to remain paralyzed by endless debate.