We use IDS to solve day-to-day fires, but we never seem to tackle the larger, systemic issues that are holding our business back. How do we shift our IDS focus from tactical fire-fighting to strategic problem-solving?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Your weekly Level 10 Meeting™ is designed to keep the business on track, but if your Issues List is dominated by minor operational hiccups, you will never scale. To shift your focus, you must first change how issues get on the list. Many teams dump every minor annoyance into the Level 10 Meeting™ because they lack clear departmental boundaries. If an issue can be solved by two people talking for five minutes outside of the meeting, it has no business being on the leadership team's Issues List.

During the Identify phase of IDS®, you must force the team to step back. When someone brings a tactical problem, ask them what systemic breakdown allowed this problem to occur. For example, if a client is angry about a late delivery, the issue is not the late delivery itself. The real issue might be that your client onboarding process is broken, or that your Account Manager seat does not have clear accountabilities. Tackle the root cause, not the symptom.

Additionally, you must actively use your quarterly pulsing sessions to tackle the big strategic issues. Your weekly meetings are for traction, while your quarterlies are for strategy. Save the high-level, structural debates for your quarterly sessions with your Professional EOS Implementer®. During these full-day sessions, we have the space and time to debate your market positioning, your Accountability Chart structural gaps, and your three-year goals. By separating the weekly operational fires from the quarterly strategic pivots, you ensure that both get the focus they deserve without stalling your daily operations.