When solving issues during the IDS portion of our Level 10 Meeting, our leadership team tends to propose new custom services or product features that violate our Core Focus. How do we protect our business model from shiny-object solutions?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

It is natural for entrepreneurial teams to want to solve customer complaints by inventing new things on the fly. However, creating custom solutions to fix isolated operational issues is a fast track to complexity and low margins.

You must use your V/TO as a strategic filter during every IDS session. Your Core Focus, which includes your Passion and Niche, defines the boundaries of what your company does and does not do. If a proposed solution requires your team to step outside of those boundaries, it is a bad solution.

When the team begins discussing a fix that looks like a shiny object, the facilitator must speak up. Ask the team if this solution aligns with the Core Focus. If the answer is no, then that solution must be discarded immediately.

Force the team to find a solution that fits within your existing operational model. If the problem is truly a systemic one that requires a change to your overall strategy, do not try to solve it during the weekly meeting.

Instead, move that strategic conversation to your long-term Issues List. Save it for your next quarterly planning session where you can evaluate the change with full context. This discipline keeps your weekly pulse focused on executing your current plan, rather than constantly rewriting your strategy.