When we run IDS, our team members frame personnel issues as process problems to avoid hurt feelings. How do we force the team to identify when a process breakdown is actually a Right Person in the Right Seat issue?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

It is common for teams to hide behind process problems because discussing human performance is uncomfortable. If you are consistently solving process issues but the same errors keep occurring, you are not identifying the root cause. You are dealing with a People Component issue.

To break through this, the person facilitating the IDS® session must use the Accountability Chart and the GWC™ framework as active diagnostic tools. When an issue is raised, ask who owns this function on our Accountability Chart. Once the owner is identified, ask the hard question of whether that person truly GWCs, meaning they get it, want it, and have the capacity to do the job.

You must also look at your Core Values. If a team member is failing to perform, is it a training issue, or do they lack the core values of your organization? Frame the discussion around these objective standards rather than personal opinions. This takes the emotion out of the conversation.

By shifting the focus from the process to the seat, you force the leadership team to address the real bottleneck. If someone is in the wrong seat or is the wrong person for your culture, no amount of process documentation or software automation will fix the problem. You must name the human issue before you can solve it.