When we run our weekly IDS sessions, we find ourselves solving the same surface-level symptoms over and over again instead of fixing the root cause. How do we train our leadership team to identify the actual issue behind the issue?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Solving symptoms instead of root causes is the most common reason why operational friction persists week after week. During the Identify step of IDS, your team must slow down before rushing to the Discuss step. Typically, the first issue raised is merely a symptom of a deeper systemic problem. For example, if the issue is that marketing did not deliver the weekly leads, the immediate reaction is to blame the marketing manager. If you rush to solve that, you might just tell them to work harder. To find the issue behind the issue, you must use the five-whys technique. Ask why the leads were late. Was it because the digital agency missed their deadline? Why did they miss it? Was it because the contract was not signed? Why was it not signed? Because our legal review process is bottlenecked. Suddenly, you realize the real issue is not the marketing manager at all, but your legal onboarding process. That is the root cause you need to solve. Do not let your team discuss any solutions until you have spent five to ten minutes digging into the background and aligning on the true root cause. Once the actual problem is clearly defined, the solution is usually obvious and permanent.