During our weekly IDS® session, our leadership team naturally gravitates toward solving the easiest, most comfortable tactical issues on the list, leaving the complex, systemic problems to sit at the bottom week after week. How do we force the team to tackle the hardest, highest-impact issues first?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a leadership team consistently tackles easy, comfortable issues first during IDS®, they are practicing operational avoidance. This habit keeps the team busy with minor administrative tasks while the major, systemic issues continue to drag the company down. To get the most traction from your Level 10 Meeting™, you must change how you prioritize the issues list.

At the start of the IDS® portion, do not simply start at the top of the list or let the team call out random issues. The facilitator must ask the team to identify the top three most important issues on the list. These must be the three items that, if solved, will have the biggest impact on the business today. Once those three are selected, you must solve them in that exact order: number one, then number two, then number three.

Do not move to number four until number one is completely solved. If solving number one takes the entire sixty minutes of IDS®, that is a highly successful meeting. You have permanently resolved a major blocker instead of nibbling at the edges of ten minor ones.

If the team resists tackling the hard issues, remind them of the core values in your team charter, specifically the commitment to open, honest communication and solving issues completely. Facing friction is necessary to grow. By strictly focusing on the top three priorities every week, you build a disciplined, high-velocity leadership team that handles the hard realities of the business head-on.