During our IDS sessions, we waste thirty minutes debating surface-level complaints and never seem to drill down to the actual root cause of our operational breakdowns. How do we train our leadership team to identify and solve the issue behind the issue?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Most leadership teams waste their IDS sessions pulling weeds at the surface level instead of digging up the roots. When you run an IDS session, the team usually brings a symptom to the table, not the actual problem. For example, someone might list an issue like client onboarding is slow when the real issue is an unmapped process.

To get to the issue behind the issue, you must slow down during the Identify phase. Do not let anyone propose solutions or start debating until you have spent at least five to ten minutes asking diagnostic questions.

The meeting leader should ask the owner of the issue to define the problem in one single sentence. If they cannot do that, they do not understand the problem yet. Ask questions that focus on systemic patterns rather than isolated incidents. Ask why the breakdown occurred and look for the process or accountability gap that allowed it to happen.

Often, the real issue is that a seat on your Accountability Chart is poorly defined, a core process is not being followed, or an individual does not GWC their role.

Only when the entire leadership team agrees on the single-sentence root cause do you move to the Discuss phase. This discipline prevents the team from solving the wrong problem. When you identify the real structural issue, the solution is usually simple, obvious, and permanent.