Sense and decide
Graded assertiveness (PACE: Probe, Alert, Challenge, Emergency)
Speak up in steps, from a question to a stop
Use a shared set of escalating phrases so people can raise a concern in stages instead of choosing between silence and confrontation.
Borrowed from crew resource management training in aviation, as described in the US Federal Aviation Administration's guidance (Advisory Circular 120-51). Read the original source.
Ongoing habit · An hour or more to set up · Anyone on the team can start it
Try this first
Give people three phrases to keep ready. I'm curious. I'm concerned. I need us to stop.
Use it when
Speaking up is all-or-nothing, silence or a blow-up.
Skip it when
This is for concerns in the moment, not every disagreement. If people use the strongest escalation for minor disagreements, it will quickly lose its force.
How to introduce it
Teach a ladder for voicing a concern. Start light: I'm curious why we're doing it this way. Then clearer: I'm concerned this could go wrong, and here is why. Then firm: I need us to stop and check this. Named steps mean nobody has to jump from silence to a scene.
How to show up
Teach the steps before anyone needs them, then answer the gentle ones well. Ignore a soft question and people stop bothering with the firm ones. The early rungs have to be safe.
How long it takes
A short session to teach the steps. It then lives as shared language.
What makes it hard
The first rung is easy to miss. Train people, seniors especially, to hear "I'm curious" as the concern it usually is. People expect the firm end to read as insubordination, so say in advance that using it is expected.
What it looks like when it's working
Concerns arrive early and softly instead of late and loud, and the firm steps get heeded when they come. If people still swing between silence and blow-ups, nobody is using the ladder.
How long until it sticks
A few weeks of use before the phrases become the team's natural way of raising concerns.
How you know it stuck
"I'm concerned" is common language and "I need us to stop" means stop.
The idea behind it
People need a way to escalate a concern without jumping straight from silence to confrontation.
Where it comes from
Aviation crew resource management. Teach the graded ladder, "I'm curious..." → "I'm concerned..." → "I need us to stop", so dissent has rungs, not a cliff. A script that escalates from a gentle question to firm action in defined steps, so speaking up isn't all-or-nothing.
Why it matters for senior teams
Seniority can make this problem worse because people are less likely to challenge a high-status colleague