IDS Solve step: how to close issues with clear accountability

Executive overview

Most teams identify and discuss issues well but fail at the final step: committing to a definitive solve. Without clear ownership — who does what by when — issues linger, trust erodes, and growth stalls.

A great solve is specific, accountable, and permanent. Once resolved, the issue comes off the list entirely.

The greatest leadership teams are fanatical and obsessed about resolution — because unresolved issues are the only thing standing between them and what they want.

What a definitive solve requires

• Clear accountability: who does what by when — pinned to a specific person and deadline
• If not a to-do, it becomes a cascading message, a rock, or a one-year goal — but something must happen
• Vague solves signal the root cause was never truly identified
• Once an issue is solved, it comes off the issues list permanently — leaving it on is a vote of no-confidence in the team

The trust signal in to-do completion

• Each person given a to-do must genuinely get it, want it, and have capacity to execute it to a high standard
• Target: 90% of to-do's completed within 7 days; 80%+ of rocks completed each quarter
• Consistent follow-through builds the "say-do ratio" — when it's high, commitments are believed
• Too many to-do's carried past seven days is a warning light: either a capacity problem or an accountability problem
• Falling short of those targets means long-term goals — 10-year targets, core targets — are at risk

Entering the danger with solves

• Surface-level solves are easy to let go of — and easy to ignore; they don't hit the root
• Backing off even slightly means acquiescing to mediocrity in every Level 10 meeting and quarterly session
• Hard people decisions are the clearest example: teams that delay them always say afterward, "I wish I'd done this sooner"
• The right time to do the right thing is always right now