Visionaries, this one’s for you.
Recently, while running an L10 meeting for one of my clients, an issue arose that we began to IDS. Some leadership team members’ first instincts were to immediately create to-dos before a) understanding the root cause of the problem, and b) attempting to solve the problem real-time. This is a natural human instinct and I see it all the time.
The issue on the table was whether to develop a project plan for redesigning their current website. Before automatically generating to-dos, I asked the team some probing questions: What are we really trying to solve for? What do we know about why the current website isn’t working? Have we talked to our customers about their experience on the website and, if so, have we really heard what they had to say?
These questions activated an important conversation that ultimately led to the team’s decision to make targeted website improvements rather than initiate a complete online makeover, saving the company thousands of dollars. By inquiring further in real time, we were able to do the important work right then and determine a significant change in operational strategy.
Solving issues during the L10 often involves creating to-dos. And that’s a good thing—it’s a big part of how EOS is designed to work. The trick is ensuring you’ve gotten to the root cause of the issue and created the to-dos that are going to actually help solve the problem.
In my work with clients, I find that leadership teams can be quick to want to add to the ever-growing to-do list instead of tackling issues head on. They’re not fans of the pregnant pauses that often precede pivotal discovery, so they avoid them altogether by adding a to-do and moving on to an issue that’s more comfortable to discuss or feels more easily solvable.
On top of that, people tend to equate busy-ness with productivity—the more to-dos I have on my plate, the more I must be getting done and the more value I must be bringing to the company. We all know people who seem to work ungodly hours but actually produce very little.
If it’s possible to solve an issue during the L10 meeting in a healthy, constructive way, do it. Visionaries, you’re great at so many things and critical to your company’s success. I could not do what you do. With your uniquely beautiful brain, however, comes a penchant for procrastination. This is why you desperately need an Integrator: Our job is to get to the root cause of issues and create specific, targeted and productive to-dos. Don’t put off until tomorrow what can be solved today.
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