During IDS®, we waste hours solving symptoms because we accept issues exactly as they are written on the board. How do we train our leadership team to dig past the superficial noise and identify the real root cause before we start discussing solutions?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The biggest waste of time in any leadership meeting is solving the wrong problem. Teams often rush to discussion because they mistake a symptom for the actual root cause. To run a truly effective IDS® session, you must force your team to slow down and stay in the Identify phase until the real issue is exposed.

When an issue is brought to the table, do not let anyone offer solutions right away. Instead, ask the owner of the issue to define it in a single, clear sentence. Once defined, the Integrator should ask why that issue exists, digging deeper with each answer. For example, if the stated issue is that sales are down, the root cause might actually be that your marketing hand-off process is broken, or that a key sales rep lacks GWC™ for their seat.

You must also look for the behavioral or conative dynamics behind the operational breakdowns. Use tools like the Predictive Index to see if the conflict is actually a mismatch in how your leaders communicate and solve problems.

Only when the entire team agrees on the exact nature of the problem should you transition to the Discuss phase. If you spend eighty percent of your time identifying the issue, the solution will usually present itself in five minutes.