If you’ve ever been in a truly great Level 10 Meeting, you’ve felt it: that moment when a tough, messy, emotionally charged issue finally gets solved. Not discussed. Not tabled. Not halfway addressed. Solved.
That single word—solved—might be the most powerful word in the EOS Toolbox. Because until something is solved, it’s still costing you. It’s still cluttering the mind, draining energy, and stealing focus.
When I was running EOS Worldwide day to day, we were fanatical about solving issues. We called it “tying a tidy bow.” Every issue, every conversation, every open loop needed a clean finish. We built a culture where people knew: when something hits the Issues List, it’s not going to linger, it’s going to get solved.
The Real Cost of Unsolved Issues
Here’s the hard truth: most companies never develop the muscle to truly solve things. They talk about Issues. They analyze them. They even agree on the root cause. But they stop just short of resolution.
When that happens, your Issues List becomes a graveyard of recycled problems. Rocks stall. Accountability fades. Your meetings start to feel repetitive and frustrating.
What’s really happening is organizational clutter. Every unresolved issue takes up space in your people’s heads. It drains creativity. It makes your team cautious. It teaches them subtly that talking is enough.
It’s not.
Unsolved Issues are like half-packed parachutes. Everything looks fine until you need it most, and then, chaos.
Related Reading: Level 10 Meeting
The Discipline of Finishing
One of the purest forms of leadership is the willingness to stay in the room until it’s done.
That’s what the “S” in IDS stands for: Solve. The goal of every discussion is a clear action, an owner, and agreement across the team. But here’s the catch: it’s easy to rush through that step. The pressure builds. Someone says, “Let’s circle back.” Another says, “We’re running out of time.”
This is exactly when leadership begins.
Great teams resist the urge to flee. They lean in. They slow down just long enough to get to a real solution. They make sure everyone can answer “yes” to this question:
“Can you live with this decision?”
If even one person sheepishly agrees, it’s not solved. It’s festering.
We learned this firsthand at EOS Worldwide. During our early years, when emotions ran high and the stakes were enormous, our leadership team refused to leave an issue half-solved. No matter how uncomfortable it got, we tied that tidy bow before moving on.
It wasn’t about control; it was about culture. Our people knew that if something came up, it would get handled. No avoidance. No drift.
That’s how trust is built.
Related Reading: An EOS Implementer’s Guide on How to IDS
Creating a Culture of “Solved”
If you want this kind of clarity and confidence in your organization, here’s how to build it:
- Treat “Solved” as sacred. During IDS, don’t move to the next issue until you have a clear action, an owner, and true alignment.
- Say it out loud. End every discussion with the words: “So, are we solved?” When your team hears it weekly, it becomes part of the culture.
- Follow up fast. If a to-do comes out of that solution, track it on your To-Do List. Verify completion in next week’s Level 10.
- Hold the standard. Don’t let anyone off the hook with “I thought someone else was doing it.” That’s a sign your tidy bow came untied.
This discipline takes time, but the payoff is massive. When your company lives by “solved,” communication speeds up, accountability strengthens, and your energy shifts from frustration to focus.
The Ripple Effect of Resolution
The real magic of “solved” isn’t in the meeting. It’s what happens afterward. Your team starts trusting that Issues don’t linger. People bring up more real problems. They stop politicking and start solving. The Issues List becomes a symbol of progress, not pain.
You can feel it in the culture. It’s lighter. Cleaner. More decisive.
When everything gets a tidy bow, you don’t just have a healthy meeting pulse, you have a healthy company.
A Final Challenge
In your next Level 10 Meeting, notice how often you stop short of “solved.” Notice how many to-dos are vague or unowned. Then draw a line in the sand. Make “solved” your team’s new standard.
Because clarity isn’t found in the talking, it’s born in the finishing.
And when your organization starts finishing things—truly finishing—you’ll create more peace, more trust, and more traction than ever before.
The power of ‘solved’ changes everything.
Stay Focused,
Gino
If you’re ready to move from endless conversation to clear decisions and real traction, download the Decide! eBook. Inside, you’ll get a simple, proven framework to help your leadership team make better decisions faster, and finally solve Issues that keep coming back.
