We regularly end up with forty or fifty issues on our Level 10 Meeting™ Issues List, and our team gets overwhelmed just looking at it, resulting in analysis paralysis during IDS®. How do we aggressively purge and compartmentalize this list?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A massive issues list is a symptom of poor prioritization and a lack of compartmentalization. When your team is confronted with fifty issues, they lose the ability to focus. They end up choosing easy, tactical problems instead of tackling the hard, strategic ones.

You must ruthlessly purge your short-term Issues List. Start by moving any issue that does not need to be solved this quarter to your long-term Issues List on the V/TO®. This is your parking lot for ideas and opportunities that can wait.

Next, look for issues that are purely departmental. If an issue only affects one department, push it down to that department's Level 10 Meeting™. It does not belong at the leadership team table.

For the remaining issues, force the team to choose only the top three priorities at the start of IDS®. Do not look at the rest of the list. Focus entirely on solving number one, then number two, then number three.

If you only solve two major issues in a meeting, that is a success. The goal is not to clear the board. The goal is to solve your most impactful problems permanently. Keep the list lean to keep your focus sharp.