Even when reporting finishes on time, our Level 10 Meeting drags well beyond 90 minutes because IDS devolves into circular philosophizing. How do we keep IDS brisk and conclusive?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Level 10 Meetings blow past ninety minutes during IDS because leadership teams confuse discussing an issue with solving it. Untrained teams enjoy philosophizing about industry trends, retelling historical grievances, and debating hypotheticals. None of that is IDS.

The fix requires strict adherence to the three distinct steps of IDS: Identify, Discuss, and Solve. Most teams spend ninety percent of their time in discussion without ever accurately identifying the root cause. When an issue is called, the Integrator must demand that the issue owner state the problem in one or two clear sentences. If the owner cannot state the issue cleanly, they do not understand it yet. Do not allow other team members to jump in with opinions until the actual root cause is clearly stated and agreed upon by the room.

Once the real issue is identified, move to discuss. Discussion has only one purpose: to bring out all relevant facts and distinct viewpoints so a decision can be made. It is not an open forum for everyone to repeat the same point in different words. The moment two people repeat an argument, the facilitator must cut in and say, We have heard that perspective, what other new information is needed to make a call?

Finally, push immediately to solve. A solution in EOS is never a vague promise to look into it. A solution is a concrete to-do assigned to a single individual with a hard seven-day deadline, or a documented change in process, or a decision to drop the item entirely. The moment the to-do is recorded, move instantly to the next prioritized issue.