We solve issues during our weekly Level 10 Meeting, assign a to-do, complete the to-do, but then the exact same problem reappears on our Issues List three or four weeks later. How do we stop these recurring issues from draining our team's energy?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When the same problems keep returning to your weekly Issues List, it is a clear sign that your team is failing to reach the root cause during the IDS® process. You are treating the symptoms of the issue rather than solving the systemic problem. For example, if you repeatedly assign a weekly to-do to follow up on a late vendor shipment, you are managing a symptom. The root cause is likely a bad vendor agreement or a flawed purchasing process.

To kill these zombie issues once and for all, the facilitator must pause the meeting when a recurring issue is brought up. Before rushing to discuss solutions, force the team to spend more time in the Identify phase. Ask why the issue keeps happening, and keep asking why until you hit a structural or process breakdown.

Look closely at your Accountability Chart. Every recurring issue can usually be traced back to a specific seat that is either poorly defined or occupied by someone who does not GWC™ the role. Assign the final solution to the seat owner on the chart, and ensure the resulting weekly to-do is designed to fix the underlying system, not just patch the immediate fire. Solving the root cause might require a more complex to-do or even creating a new quarterly Rock, but it is the only way to keep your weekly Issues List clean and your operations moving forward.