When we do IDS, our team keeps solving the surface symptoms instead of the root cause. How do we push deeper to identify the real issue behind the issue?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Most leadership teams fail at IDS® because they rush straight from identifying the issue to discussing the solution. They spend five minutes identifying and fifty-five minutes discussing. To solve the issue behind the issue, you must invert this ratio.

Diving Deeper into Issues

To prevent your team from solving surface symptoms, focus heavily on the Identify phase of IDS.

• Allocate Time Wisely: Spend approximately 70 percent of your Level 10 Meeting time on the Identify phase. This ensures thorough understanding before jumping to solutions.
• Prevent Premature Solutions: When an issue is raised and added to the IDS® list, do not allow anyone to offer a solution yet. This is critical for disciplined problem solving. [When an issue is dropped to IDS, my leadership team immediately starts pointing fingers at other departments rather than taking ownership. How do we use the Accountability Chart to stop the blame game during meetings?](/qa/using-accountability-chart-to-stop-blame-in-ids)
• Define Clearly: Ask the owner of the issue to define it in one clear sentence. This forces precision and helps the entire team understand the perceived problem.
• Ask "Why" Repeatedly: Continue asking "why" three to five times. This technique, often called the "5 Whys," helps to dig past surface symptoms and uncover the true root cause.

Example: Project Delay

Consider an example where the stated issue is a project is late.

• Surface Symptom: The immediate, surface-level solution might be to work overtime. While this could provide a temporary fix, it doesn't address why the project was late in the first place.
• Digging Deeper: By asking "why" multiple times, you might discover the real issue: "the sales team is promising unrealistic delivery timelines without consulting operations." This reveals a systemic problem, not just a one-off delay.
• Identify the Root Cause: This fundamental misalignment between sales and operations is the root cause. Only when the leadership team agrees on this real, underlying issue should you move to the Discuss and Solve phases of IDS®. [Our operations team spends too much time reviewing incoming vendor agreements against our standard terms. How can we leverage AI to highlight the deviations instantly?](/qa/ai-vendor-contract-review-automation)

By adopting this disciplined approach, your team can move beyond symptom management to tackle the underlying systemic problems, leading to more sustainable and impactful solutions. [Our quarterly planning sessions have turned into boring progress updates where we just read reports instead of solving big strategic problems. How do we get the value back?](/qa/fixing-boring-eos-quarterly-sessions)

Related questions

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• [Our quarterly planning sessions have turned into boring progress updates where we just read reports instead of solving big strategic problems. How do we get the value back?](/qa/fixing-boring-eos-quarterly-sessions)
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