During the IDS® portion of our Level 10 Meeting™, we often find ourselves solving the symptom of a problem rather than the root cause because we jump straight into the Discuss step before we have truly Identified the real issue. How do we discipline our team to stay in the Identify phase longer without drifting into early debate?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Jumping straight from a stated issue into debate is the most common way leadership teams waste time during IDS. When you do this, you end up proposing solutions for symptoms while the actual root cause remains unaddressed. To stop this drift, the facilitator must enforce a hard boundary between the Identify phase and the Discuss phase.

When an issue is raised, the person who brought it must state the problem in a single, clear sentence. The facilitator should then ask the rest of the team if they agree that this is the real issue. If the team starts offering solutions or debating the details, the facilitator must intervene immediately. Use direct phrases like, we are still identifying the issue, please hold your solutions, or what is the actual root cause here.

Only when the team has agreed on the core problem can you move to the Discuss step. A good rule of thumb is that the Identify phase should take up about twenty percent of your time for that issue, and it must end with a clearly defined problem statement written on the board.

By slowing down the transition from Identify to Discuss, you prevent the team from spinning their wheels on the wrong problems. Spending five focused minutes finding the root cause is far better than spending forty minutes debating a symptom.