As we roll our Level 10 Meetings down to our department levels, several teams are finishing their meetings forty minutes early because they claim they have zero issues on their list, even though their scorecard metrics are regularly missed. How do we break this no-issue illusion?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a department head claims they have no issues but their scorecard is red, they are either blind to their operational reality or hiding their problems. This is a training and leadership issue. First, teach your managers that a red metric on the scorecard is, by definition, an issue. It must automatically drop to the weekly Issues List. There are no exceptions. If a team has a red number and no corresponding issue to discuss, the meeting is a failure. Second, redefine what an issue is. Many teams think an issue must be a catastrophic failure. Remind them that an issue is also an opportunity, a process bottleneck, a resource constraint, or a question about future planning. If they are hitting all their targets, their issues should be about how to raise the bar or optimize their workflow. The Integrator must audit these departmental meetings. Sit in on a session or review their meeting records. If you see a clean issues list and failing metrics, call out the manager. They must learn to use the Level 10 Meeting as a tool for driving execution, not a checklist to get through as quickly as possible.