During our weekly IDS® time, our team keeps jumping straight to fixing the symptoms instead of doing the hard work to dig up the actual root cause of our problems. How do we build the discipline to stay in the Identify phase until we have hit the real issue?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When teams struggle to solve real issues, it is almost always because they are rushing the Identify step of IDS®. Most teams spend five seconds identifying an issue and fifty minutes discussing it, only to realize they solved a symptom instead of the disease.

To break this habit, you must commit to staying in the Identify phase until the real issue is exposed. This requires asking probing questions and refusing to accept the first answer. When an issue is read, ask the team what the real problem is. If someone says we have a communication problem, do not let that stand. Ask for a specific example. Keep digging until you find the structural breakdown, the clear seat conflict, or the missing process.

Only when the team agrees on the single, core problem can you move to Discuss. The Discuss phase should be brief and focused entirely on solving that root issue. The Solve phase must result in a clear, actionable to-do item with a single owner. If you find yourself having the same conversation week after week, you are still solving symptoms. Stop the meeting, step back, and challenge the team to identify the real barrier.