We find ourselves discussing the exact same operational issues in our weekly Level 10 Meeting™ every single month. We agree on an action step, but then the issue resurfaces. How do we stop rushing to solve these issues before we have actually identified the real root cause under the surface?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

To stop resolving symptoms and start solving real problems during your weekly Level 10 Meeting™, you must master the Identify stage of IDS®. Most leadership teams suffer from an intense bias for action. You see a problem, your blood pressure rises, and you immediately jump to proposing solutions. This is a trap. You end up solving a symptom, while the real issue remains untouched.

To break this cycle, the person raising the issue must state it in one simple sentence. Do not let them launch into a long story. Once stated, the rest of the team must ask clarifying questions to strip away the noise. You are looking for patterns. If a project is late, is it a performance issue, a capacity issue, or a structural issue on your Accountability Chart?

Never move to the Discuss phase until everyone around the table agrees on the single, core problem. If you disagree on what the actual problem is, you cannot possibly agree on the solution. Ask why five times. If you are debating a marketing metric, the real issue might be that your sales and marketing seats are in conflict.

Stop allowing quick fixes that merely put a bandage on a bullet wound. If an issue keeps returning to your Issues List week after week, it is because you did not actually solve it last time. Commit to spending eighty percent of your IDS® time on identifying the real root cause, and the solve will become obvious and permanent.