We are great at solving minor operational issues in our Level 10 Meetings™ but we consistently avoid tackling the massive elephants in the room during IDS®. How do we force our leadership team to address these systemic issues?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Avoiding difficult issues is a sign of low trust or fear of conflict on your leadership team. When teams limit their IDS sessions to minor, transactional issues, they are using the tool as a shield to avoid the uncomfortable conversations that actually move the business forward. To break this habit, you must change how you identify issues. Before your Level 10 Meeting, review your issues list and ruthlessly prioritize. The three most critical, strategic issues must always be placed at the top of the list, regardless of how painful they are to discuss. As the Integrator or facilitator, you must call out the team when they try to skip these difficult topics. Use active, direct questioning to get to the root of the problem. If a major issue is on the table, do not let the team jump to a quick, comfortable solution. Force them to spend eighty percent of their time in the Identify phase, digging deep into the root cause, which is often a people issue or a structural flaw in your Accountability Chart. Once the real issue is exposed, the Solve phase becomes much simpler. By consistently tackling the hardest issues first, you build a healthy, high-trust culture where conflict is viewed as a necessary tool for growth.