We are consistently solving our low-priority issues during IDS, but our high-priority strategic issues keep getting pushed to next week because they require difficult conversations we are avoiding. How do we force the team to tackle the hard stuff first?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

If your team is avoiding high-priority issues to solve easier, low-impact tasks, you are suffering from conflict avoidance. This is a direct violation of the Trust pillar in your company Charter, which demands open, honest communication and solving issues completely.

To fix this, the facilitator must enforce a strict prioritization rule during the Identify, Discuss, Solve block. Before anyone speaks, the team must identify the top three most critical issues on the board. These must be labeled one, two, and three.

You are not allowed to discuss issue number four until issue number one, two, and three are completely resolved, or at least have clear, actionable To-Dos assigned.

If the team tries to skip a painful issue, the facilitator must call them out. Stop the meeting and ask: Why are we bypassing this issue? What is the elephant in the room that we are afraid to discuss?

By forcing the team to sit with the discomfort of the hardest issue first, you build the muscle of healthy conflict. Solving a single high-priority bottleneck does more for your scale and eventual exit than clearing ten easy administrative issues. Do not let your team hide behind busywork; force them to run toward the fire.