During the IDS portion of our weekly Level 10 Meeting, our leadership team drops vague, high-level complaints onto the Issues List like company morale or slow communication, which lead to endless circular discussions. How do we force them to frame issues as specific, actionable problems with clear owners?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Vague issues are impossible to solve because they do not have a defined starting point or an obvious solution. When a leader adds a generic complaint to the Issues List, the facilitator must immediately run them through the Identify step of IDS®.

Before any discussion begins, implement the following steps:

• Ask the owner of the issue to state the problem in one clear sentence.
• Ensure the statement identifies the specific gap between where you are and where you need to be.
• Require them to name the seat on the Accountability Chart responsible for the issue.

For example, if someone brings up "slow communication," force them to clarify. The real issue might be that the sales department is taking more than forty-eight hours to return lead sheets to operations. Once the issue is framed as a specific operational gap with a clear owner, the team can transition to the Discuss and Solve phases. For more on ensuring accountability, see [using the Accountability Chart to stop the blame game during meetings](/qa/using-accountability-chart-to-stop-blame-in-ids).

If the owner of the issue cannot state the problem clearly in one sentence, remove it from the list and instruct them to process it offline before bringing it back. This discipline prevents the meeting from devolving into a venting session and keeps your team focused on concrete, actionable problem solving. This proactive approach also helps to make the most of your [Level 10 Meeting time](/qa/rein-in-level-10-meeting-segue), avoiding common pitfalls.

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