Our leadership team spends the first thirty minutes of our Level 10 Meeting™ arguing about the data during the Scorecard and Rock review, leaving us with almost no time for actual IDS®. How do we build a strict wall between reporting and problem-solving?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The first twenty-five minutes of your Level 10 Meeting™ are designed for reporting, not for solving problems. When you allow your team to debate why a number is red or why a Rock is off-track during the review phase, you are completely destroying your meeting momentum.

The facilitator must enforce a strict, binary rule during the Scorecard and Rock reviews. The only acceptable answers are "on track" or "off track" for Rocks, and the actual number for the Scorecard. No stories, no context, and no excuses are allowed.

If a number is red or a Rock is off-track, the owner of that item must say, "Drop it to the list." The facilitator then types that item onto the short-term Issues List and moves immediately to the next line.

If anyone starts explaining why the number is off-track, the facilitator must interrupt them immediately and say, "We will IDS® it later."

This discipline creates a hard wall between reporting and problem-solving. It allows you to fly through the admin portion of the meeting in twenty-five minutes, leaving a full fifty minutes for IDS®. By saving all discussion for the designated IDS® block, you ensure that you are solving problems holistically rather than reacting emotionally to individual numbers. This maximizes your collective problem-solving power.