Our leadership team spends forty minutes discussing symptoms because they rush through the Identify phase of IDS®, resulting in solutions that fail to address the actual root cause of the issue. How do we slow the team down to find the real issue before we talk about solutions?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Most leadership teams waste hours during their Level 10 Meeting™ because they are impatient. When an issue is raised, they spend five seconds reading the headline and immediately jump into debate. By rushing the Identify phase of IDS®, they end up solving symptoms instead of the actual root cause of the problem.

To cure this impatience, the facilitator must mandate a pause. When an issue is selected, do not allow anyone to propose solutions or debate the merits. First, ask the owner of the issue to clearly state the problem in a single sentence.

Once the problem is stated, the facilitator must ask: what is the actual root cause? Continue to ask why until you peel back the layers of symptom and reach the core operational failure. Only when the entire leadership team agrees that they have identified the real issue can you transition to the Discuss phase.

To keep your Identify phase focused, look for these common root causes:
- A lack of structural clarity or an accountability gap on the Accountability Chart.
- A missing or broken standard operating procedure.
- A person who does not GWC™ their seat or align with your Core Values.

By investing the time to identify the real issue first, your discussion will be shorter, and your solutions will be permanent.