We solve our Level 10 Meeting™ issues by creating an overwhelming number of weekly To-Dos, resulting in twenty or thirty new action items every week that clutter our lists and drag down our execution. How do we keep IDS® solutions high-impact without overproducing tasks?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Generating twenty or thirty weekly To-Dos in a single Level 10 Meeting™ is a symptom of poor IDS® discipline. It means you are treating symptoms with quick-fix tasks rather than finding the true root cause, or you are assigning micro-tasks that should be handled outside the meeting.

An effective IDS® solution should be elegant and high-impact. It should resolve the issue permanently, not create a mountain of administrative homework for the leadership team.

To limit task volume, apply these strict rules during the solve phase of IDS®:

First, focus on the single next step. You do not need to map out the entire project plan during the meeting. If solving an issue requires a multi-step process, assign a single weekly To-Do to the accountable owner to create the plan and present it next week.

Second, keep micro-tasks out of the Level 10 Meeting™. If a task takes less than five minutes or is part of a leader's regular daily operational role, do not write it down as a weekly To-Do. Just do it.

Third, ensure every To-Do is assigned to a single name on the Accountability Chart. If an issue requires collaboration, assign the To-Do to the owner of the outcome, and let them coordinate the secondary tasks with their team offline.

By keeping your weekly To-Dos focused on high-level, next-step accountability, you keep your execution rates high, your lists clean, and your team focused on the big picture.