During IDS®, our team is quick to agree on solutions, but we find ourselves solving the exact same issue three or four weeks later because our solves are actually just temporary band-aids rather than permanent fixes. How do we pressure-test our decisions during the meeting to ensure they are true, lasting solves?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

If you are solving the same issue multiple times, you are not actually doing IDS. You are treating symptoms instead of curing the disease. True problem-solving requires the discipline to identify the root cause before agreeing on a solution. When your team rushes to a quick fix, it is usually because they want to cross the item off the list and move on. To stop this cycle, your facilitator must implement a strict pressure-testing step before declaring an issue solved. Once a solution is proposed, ask three critical questions: Does this solve the issue at its root? Who is accountable for executing this solve? What is the exact weekly To-Do that will prove we are making progress? If the proposed solution is just "we will try harder" or "we will communicate better," reject it immediately. Communication is a symptom, not a system. Instead, force the team to build a process, change a seat, or implement an AI-powered operational tool to automate the fix. Ensure the resulting To-Do is assigned to one specific person on the Accountability Chart with a clear, seven-day deliverable. If the issue returns a few weeks later, bring it back to the list and analyze why the previous solve failed. This level of rigorous, systemic problem-solving is what separates average teams from elite ones, and it is exactly the kind of operational efficiency that exit buyers pay a premium for.