We find ourselves IDS-ing the exact same operational issues week after week, which tells me we are not actually getting to the issue behind the issue. How do we break this loop and find the root cause when the team thinks they have already solved it?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

If an issue keeps returning to your weekly list, you did not solve it; you merely treated a symptom. This recurring loop happens because teams are impatient and want the quick fix. They agree to a shallow action item that makes the immediate pain go away without fixing the broken process or structural gap underneath.

To break this cycle, you must use a diagnostic approach during your Identify phase. When an issue is raised, ask why it happened. When you get the answer, ask why that happened. Repeat this multiple times to dig deep.

For example, if the issue is a missed client deadline, the initial answer might be that the account manager was overloaded. Why? Because onboarding took too long. Why? Because the client did not send their data. Why? Because we do not have a standardized onboarding checklist. Why? Because we never assigned an owner to that process.

Suddenly, the issue is not a busy account manager; it is a lack of process ownership on your Accountability Chart. That is the issue behind the issue.

Never allow the team to move to the Discuss phase until you have traced the symptoms back to one of three areas: a people issue, a process issue, or a structural issue. Once you identify the root, create a Rock or a firm to-do that permanently fixes that underlying system.