Stop Talking About Problems and Start Solving Them: A Guide to Mastering IDS™

Every leadership team knows the feeling. You leave a meeting, and the most critical issues—the “elephants in the room”—are still standing right where you left them. Problems get discussed, but they rarely get resolved. They linger on to-do lists, sap morale, and silently stall progress.

The truth is, successful businesses aren’t the ones without issues; they’re the ones with a proven system for solving them.

That system is called IDS™—Identify, Discuss, and Solve. It’s a simple discipline that transforms unproductive conversations into decisive action. And with EOS One™, you have the perfect digital platform to bring this powerful process to life.

See how EOS One helps you run efficient Level 10 Meetings so you can spend more time in IDS:

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The High Cost of Unresolved Issues

When issues aren’t dealt with at their root, they fester. This leads to:

• Recurring Problems: The same frustrations surface in meeting after meeting.
• Stalled Progress: Key initiatives (your Rocks™) get derailed by unresolved obstacles.
• Team Frustration: Morale drops when team members feel their concerns are heard but never truly addressed.
• The “Meeting After the Meeting”: Where the real conversations happen in silos, without the whole team present to find a solution.

It’s time to break the cycle.

How IDS™ Works in EOS One™

The IDS component of your weekly Level 10 Meeting™ is where the magic happens. EOS One is built to make this process seamless, focused, and incredibly effective.

1. Identify: A Central Place for Every Obstacle

Issues can pop up anytime. An off-track metric on your Scorecard, a roadblock in a 90-day Rock, or a sudden thought in the middle of the night. With EOS One, you can instantly “drop it down” to your Issues List from anywhere in the platform. No more scattered notes or forgotten concerns. Everything is captured in one place, ready for the team to see.

2. Discuss: Tools to Get to the Real Root

Once you’re in your IDS session, EOS One provides the tools to focus your discussion:

• Prioritize with Purpose: Quickly sort your Issues List and, as a team, vote on the top three most important items to tackle first. This ensures you’re spending your energy where it matters most.
• Search and Filter: Instantly find a specific issue with a keyword search or filter the list to see what’s on everyone’s mind.
• Clear Note-Taking: Capture the core of the discussion directly within the issue, so the context is never lost.

3. Solve: Turn Conversation into Commitment

This is the most critical step. A discussion without a resolution is just talk. EOS One helps you land the plane by:

• Creating Actionable To-Dos: Easily create a new To-Do directly from an issue and assign it to an owner with a clear due date. This makes accountability crystal clear.
• Marking it “Solved”: There’s no greater feeling than moving an issue off the list for good. Clicking “Solved” provides a tangible sense of accomplishment and forward momentum.
• Handling Unfinished Business: Not every issue can be solved in one session. EOS One allows you to mark it as “Not Solved” to revisit next week or move it to a different meeting where it can be resolved.

Fostering a Culture of Open and Honest Communication

Sometimes, the biggest barrier to solving an issue isn’t the problem itself, but the team’s dynamics. EOS One includes a unique set of tools to help facilitate open, honest, and vulnerable conversations.

Those fun animal icons at the bottom of the screen? They’re your secret weapon for healthy meetings.

• 🐘 Elephant: Gently signal that the team is avoiding a major, unspoken issue.
• 🐄 Sacred Cow: A lighthearted way to point out that a process or idea is being protected from necessary scrutiny.
• 🐿️ Squirrel: Nudge a teammate who is going off on a tangent and bring the focus back.
• 🐴 Dead Horse: Indicate when a topic has been discussed enough and it’s time to move on.

These icons provide a non-confrontational way to keep the team on track and encourage the kind of honesty required for real breakthroughs.

Ready to Solve Issues for Good?

Stop running in circles. It’s time to give your team the structure and tools they need to confront challenges head-on and make them disappear forever. With EOS One, you’re not just buying software; you’re adopting a system for unparalleled clarity, accountability, and results.

Experience the power of effective issue-solving for yourself. Start your free trial of EOS One today—no credit card required.