When we run our weekly IDS session, our department heads tend to protect their own territory, which prevents us from solving issues that span multiple departments. How do we break down these operational silos to identify the true cross-functional root causes?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Silo protection during IDS® is a symptom of a weak team health dynamic and a misunderstanding of the Accountability Chart. When leaders enter the Level 10 Meeting™, they must take off their departmental hats and put on their leadership team hats. Your primary loyalty is to the leadership team and the overall health of the business, not your specific division.

To break through departmental defense mechanisms, you must start with the Accountability Chart. When an issue crosses departments, look at the seats involved rather than the individuals. Ask which seat owns the ultimate accountability for the outcome. This removes the personal defense mechanisms and centers the conversation on structural responsibility.

Next, use the three-step IDS® process to force objective analysis. When identifying the issue, do not let leaders describe the problem from their own perspective. Force them to state the issue in a single sentence that focuses on the business impact. For example, instead of discussing how marketing is sending bad leads, state that the lead qualification process is failing to meet our cost per acquisition target. This shifts the focus from blaming a department to fixing a broken system. Once the root cause is isolated, the solution usually becomes obvious and can be assigned as a specific to-do to the correct seat owner.