We are getting through our Level 10 issues list, but the same problems keep resurfacing every few weeks. How do we ensure our IDS solutions actually stick permanently?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When the same problems resurface on your Issues List month after month, your team is solving symptoms rather than identifying the root cause. Teams often jump straight from reading the issue into brainstorming quick-fix actions because action feels productive. In reality, you are putting a band-aid on an infected wound.

To ensure solutions stick, force the team to spend eighty percent of their IDS time on the first letter: Identify. When an issue is announced, do not allow anyone to propose a solution. Ask why five times until you peel back the layers to discover the underlying breakdown in people, process, or vision. Often, what presents as a communication breakdown between sales and operations is actually a missing step in your documented Core Process or someone sitting in the wrong seat.

Once the root cause is undisputed, your Discuss phase should be short, and your Solve step must produce a specific, binary To-Do. A valid To-Do has exactly one owner and a seven-day deadline. It is never a vague goal like improve team communication; it is draft and publish the three-step handoff checklist by next Tuesday.

Finally, if an issue reappears, treat it as a process or accountability failure. Audit the original To-Do. Did the owner actually execute the fix, or did the team fail to follow the agreed-upon process? Holding people strictly accountable to their seven-day commitments prevents temporary fixes from becoming recurring operational waste.