Our team has a bad habit of dropping major, unvetted strategic issues onto the Issues List during the last five minutes of our Level 10 Meeting, expecting immediate decisions without any context or preparation. How do we prevent these last-minute operational ambushes?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Dropping a complex strategic issue onto the list at the last minute is a defensive tactic used by leaders who want to bypass healthy debate or force a rushed decision. This operational ambush ruins the integrity of the IDS® process.

To stop this, establish a cut-off time for populating the weekly Issues List. The list should be populated throughout the week as issues arise. Any issue added during the meeting itself should be restricted to urgent tactical emergencies that cannot wait another seven days.

If a major strategic issue is dropped onto the list in the final minutes, the facilitator must refuse to address it immediately. Instead, add it to the list for the following week so the team has time to review the context or gather necessary data beforehand.

During the IDS® portion, your team must always prioritize the top three issues first. If a late addition is not a critical top-three priority, it stays at the bottom of the list. By strictly enforcing this prioritization, you teach your team that last-minute drops will not get fast-tracked, forcing them to bring issues to the table with proper lead time.