We are solving the same surface-level problems every week during IDS but nothing actually changes; how do we dig down to the real root cause?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Solving the same issues week after week is a classic sign of weak identification. Most leadership teams rush into the Discuss phase because they are eager to take action, but they end up solving symptoms instead of the actual root cause.

To break this cycle, you must spend at least seventy percent of your IDS® time on the Identify phase. When an issue is raised, do not let anyone offer solutions right away. Instead, ask the owner of the issue to state the problem in one clear sentence.

Once the issue is stated, the rest of the team must ask clarifying questions to dig deeper. Look for the underlying human or process failure. Often, what looks like a marketing issue is actually a product delivery issue or a personnel conflict.

You should also look at conative differences using tools like the Kolbe A Index. Sometimes an issue is not a process failure but a natural tension between different working styles, such as an initiating Quick Start clashing with an initiating Fact Finder.

Do not move to the Discuss phase until the entire team agrees on the real issue. Once you accurately identify the root cause, the Discuss and Solve phases should take less than ten minutes. The output of a solved issue must always be a concrete to-do with a single owner and a one-week due date.