During our Level 10 Meeting™ IDS® session, we often solve an issue, but when it comes to assigning the resulting To-Do, team members start passing the hot potato, claiming it falls outside their seat on the Accountability Chart. How do we stop this boundary-pushing and get immediate ownership?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This hot potato game points to a deeper issue with structure, clarity, or culture. If your leaders are actively avoiding taking ownership of weekly tasks, they are either running on empty capacity or they are hiding behind a rigid interpretation of their job descriptions. In a healthy EOS® culture, the Accountability Chart defines roles, but the leadership team operates as a unified group that does whatever it takes to move the business forward.

When a solution is agreed upon during IDS®, the facilitator must immediately ask: Who is taking ownership of this To-Do? There can only be one name assigned to a To-Do. If two leaders start debating whose seat it belongs to, the Integrator must step in and make an executive call. If the task is truly a gray area, assign it to the leader who is closest to the issue or has the capacity to execute it this week.

If this boundary dispute happens repeatedly, it is a sign that your Accountability Chart has a structural flaw or overlapping roles. When that occurs, you must put the Accountability Chart itself on the Issues List and IDS® the structural confusion rather than continuing to fight over individual weekly tasks.