We have several chronic issues that we discuss and agree on to-dos for every single week, but the same problems keep reappearing on our Issues List. How do we break this frustrating cycle?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When the same issue keeps showing up week after week, it means you are not actually practicing IDS. You are identifying the symptom, skipping the deep root cause analysis, and agreeing on weak, superficial to-dos that do not solve the real problem. You are treating the smoke instead of putting out the fire.

To break this cycle, you must refuse to accept the previous week's definition of the issue. The next time this recurring issue is brought up, the facilitator must stop the team from jumping straight to solutions. Force them to spend eighty percent of their time in the Identify phase.

Ask the team, why did the to-do we completed last week fail to resolve this, or what is the systemic failure that is causing this to repeat? Keep asking why until you get to the absolute bottom of the issue.

Often, the real issue is a people problem, a lack of clear accountability on the Accountability Chart, or a broken process that needs to be completely redesigned. Do not let the team walk away with a quick, band-aid to-do.

The output of your IDS must be a structural change, such as updating a process, redefining a role, or making a hard people decision. If your to-dos are always minor tasks like send an email or check in with someone, you will never kill the root cause.