Sense and decide
Yes, and
During idea generation, build on what others offer and save evaluation for a separate step.
Borrowed from improv theater's "yes, and" rule, as taught in Truth in Comedy by Charna Halpern and Del Close. Read the original source.
Ongoing habit · Minutes to start · Anyone on the team can start it
Try this first
For one round, have everyone start their response with yes and.
Use it when
Ideas get killed on arrival and brainstorms converge too fast.
Skip it when
It is for generating options, not for the final decision, and not for a moment that needs a firm no on safety, legal, or ethical grounds. Never use it to bury a real objection.
How to introduce it
Tell the group that while you are generating, everyone builds on each other's ideas instead of finding the flaw. Someone offers an idea, the next person takes it and adds. Yes and, not no, and not yes but. Judgment gets its own separate step later.
How to show up
Model it by building on the first few offers out loud, and catch the first yes-but gently. Keep generating and judging clearly apart, because mixing them is what shuts people down.
How long it takes
About two minutes to explain. Then it runs for whatever the generating phase needs.
What makes it hard
Experienced people reach for the flaw first, because spotting problems is their skill. Tell them the critical eye is needed soon, just not yet. If someone keeps blocking, name the two phases again so they can see where their contribution fits.
What it looks like when it's working
Ideas build on one another and quieter people add to a thread rather than sitting out. Every offer meeting an immediate reason it will not work means the norm is not changing behavior.
How long until it sticks
It usually shifts the room within one session, and gets easier each time the team separates generating from judging.
How you know it stuck
Someone catches their own yes-but and rephrases, or asks the group to stay in yes-and for now.
The idea behind it
For this stretch, grow the pile. Do not filter it. Building on a weak idea often leads somewhere. Killing it guarantees it never does.
Where it comes from
Improv theater. A "yes-and" first pass in any generative session. Build before you judge. You accept your partner's offer and build on it rather than negating it, acceptance then addition. It separates accepting an idea from editing it.
Also fits: The people who know something don't say it
Home problem: The group lands on the first answer, often the AI's