When an issue is dropped to IDS, my leadership team immediately starts pointing fingers at other departments rather than taking ownership. How do we use the Accountability Chart to stop the blame game during meetings?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Finger-pointing during IDS (Identify, Discuss, Solve) is a clear symptom of structural and accountability issues. When team members blame other departments, it often indicates that the roles on your Accountability Chart are poorly defined, or people are in seats where they do not GWC (Get it, Want it, have the Capacity for it).

To eliminate the blame game, you must leverage your [Accountability Chart](/qa/what-company-needs-before-starting-eos) as the ultimate operational referee.

Using the Accountability Chart

When an issue is identified during your [Level 10 Meeting](/qa/how-to-review-scorecard-under-five-minutes), the facilitator should immediately:

• Ask which seat on the chart owns the root cause of the problem.
• Focus on the seats and their listed roles, not the individuals. This helps to [shift the mindset to enterprise-first](/qa/shifting-leadership-mindset-to-enterprise-first).

Once the responsible seat is identified, that specific leader must own the issue. They do not have to solve it alone, but they are fully accountable for the resolution.

Addressing Overlapping Accountabilities

If two leaders are arguing over who is responsible, it signals that you have overlapping accountabilities. This is an organizational issue that needs to be addressed. You must take this to your next quarterly meeting to:

• Clarify the structure.
• Ensure there is only one name in each seat.
• Make sure each role is crystal clear.

By grounding your IDS discussions in the objective structure of your [Accountability Chart](/qa/structure-before-people-accountability-chart), you remove personal politics from the meeting. The focus shifts from who made the mistake to how the owner of that seat will solve the issue to move the company forward. This approach also helps in [handling leadership team accountability failures](/qa/handling-leadership-team-accountability-failures) more effectively.