During the Identify phase of IDS®, our team keeps identifying 'software limitations' or 'lack of automation' as the root cause of our issues. How do we push past these technology excuses to find the real operational issue behind the issue?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

During the Identify phase of IDS®, leadership teams frequently blame outdated software or a lack of automation for their operational bottlenecks. This is almost always a copout. Technology is an accelerator of existing processes, not a savior for broken ones. When you blame your software, you are avoiding the hard work of diagnosing the actual human behavior or process design that is failing.

To break this habit, the facilitator must force the team to strip away the technology excuse. Ask yourself what the manual process looks like when it is executed perfectly. If you cannot describe a clean, step-by-step workflow on paper, buying a new software tool or building an AI automation will only help you make mistakes faster and at a higher cost.

Instead, look at the Accountability Chart and the Core Processes. Is there clear ownership of this step? Do we have a documented process that is followed by all? Often, the true issue is a lack of training, a refusal to follow the established process, or a seat on the Accountability Chart that is poorly defined. Solve the process and people issues first using the GWC™ framework. Only when you have a clean, manual workflow that is executed consistently should you discuss technology solutions. That is how you solve the issue behind the issue.