We spend our entire IDS® time on a single issue because we get stuck in endless debate without moving to Solve. How do we push the team to transition from Identify to Solve without letting the discussion spiral into a circular therapy session?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Endless debate happens because your team has not actually identified the root issue, so they are trying to solve symptoms. In a healthy IDS® session, you should spend the majority of your time in the Identify phase. If the team starts arguing about solutions, it is a sign that they do not agree on what the actual problem is.

To break this loop, the meeting leader must halt the discussion and ask a simple question: What is the single, core problem we are trying to solve right now? Force the issue owner to state it in one clear sentence. Once the true root issue is identified, the Discuss phase should be brief and focused only on offering different perspectives, not rehashing the same points.

If the discussion begins to go in circles, the leader must step in and say we are repeating ourselves. At that point, you must immediately transition to the Solve phase. Solving means deciding on a clear action item that will make the issue go away forever. The solution must result in a specific to-do assigned to one person with a seven-day deadline. If you leave the meeting without a clear, actionable to-do, you did not solve the issue.