Our leadership team frequently comes to our Level 10 Meeting with zero issues on the list, claiming everything is running perfectly, even though we are missing targets. How do we break this false harmony and force issues onto the table?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A clean Issues List is not a sign of a healthy company; it is a sign of fear, apathy, or blind spots. If your company is growing, you have issues. If you are missing targets, you definitely have issues. When your team shows up with an empty list, they are practicing false harmony, which is highly dangerous.

To break this trap, the facilitator must use the rest of the agenda to pull issues out of the team. During the Scorecard review, every single red metric that is off track must automatically become an issue. Do not let the owner explain it away. Drop it to the list.

During the Rock review, any Rock that is off track or even slightly at risk must go straight to the Issues List. During the To-Do review, any to-do that is not completed on time becomes an issue.

If the list is still empty after this, the facilitator must challenge the team directly. Ask them hard questions like, what is keeping you up at night, or where are we losing margin right now? You can also look at your V/TO. If you are not on track to hit your three-year picture or your one-year plan, there are issues.

Force the team to sit in silence until someone speaks up. Do not accept everything is fine as an answer. As an owner, you must model vulnerability by putting your own mistakes and worries on the list first.