During our weekly problem solving sessions, our team spends all our time discussing symptoms rather than the root causes of our problems. How do we master IDS® to find and solve the actual issue behind the issue?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Mastering IDS® requires a willingness to dig past surface level symptoms to find the systemic failure. When teams struggle with problem solving, it is usually because they spend forty five minutes discussing a symptom and five minutes proposing a band aid solution. To fix this, you must spend the vast majority of your time in the Identify phase. Do not allow the discussion to start until you have clearly defined the real problem. Ask why multiple times. For example, if the stated issue is that a marketing campaign missed its launch date, the symptom is the missed deadline. The root cause might be a lack of clarity on who has decision making authority in the Accountability Chart, or perhaps a resource constraint because of poor prioritization. When you identify the real issue, it often points to a people issue, a process bottleneck, or a lack of training. You must be willing to have open, sometimes uncomfortable conversations to get to this point. If your team is too polite or avoids conflict, you will never solve the actual issue. Cultivate a culture of healthy vulnerability where team members can admit mistakes without fear of blame. Once the true root cause is exposed, the Discuss and Solve phases become incredibly fast and effective, leading to permanent solutions that prevent the issue from ever appearing on your list again.