Learn and improve
Notes Day
A day when normal work stops and everyone, at every level, names what is broken and proposes a fix.
Borrowed from Pixar's company-wide Notes Day in 2013, as described by Ed Catmull in Creativity, Inc.
One session · An hour or more to set up · Needs senior backing
Try this first
Ninety minutes. Each person names one thing that is not working and one idea to fix it. Write them where everyone can see. That version surfaces plenty.
Use it when
Systemic frustrations are accumulating with no channel to voice them.
Skip it when
Skip it if leadership will not act on what comes up. Inviting candor and then burying it teaches people that speaking up is pointless, which costs more than never asking.
How to introduce it
Stop normal work for a block of time, often a full day. Invite everyone to name what is not working and to propose a fix. Say up front that no topic about how the place runs is off-limits, and that you want problems and proposals, not complaints.
How to show up
Make it safe to raise hard things, then make sure something visible happens afterward. Keep it from sliding into a gripe session or a performance. Carry the output into follow-up yourself.
How long it takes
A half to a full day for the session. The setup is mostly logistics and a clear invitation.
What makes it hard
Someone will test the room with a small complaint first. How you handle that one sets the tone for everything after. The follow-through weeks later is where these days usually die.
What it looks like when it's working
Specific problems get named, including problems with how leaders work, and changes land in the weeks after. A polite day followed by nothing means it failed.
How long until it sticks
The first one is usually cautious. Candor grows in later rounds once people see that raising things leads to change.
How you know it stuck
You know it worked when people raise hard truths in ordinary weeks, not only on the day set aside for it.
The idea behind it
The people doing the work know what is broken. They rarely get permission or time to say it. Today, saying the uncomfortable true thing is the job.
Where it comes from
Pixar's Braintrust. A standing day for honest feedback about the organization itself, including how AI is being used. The company stops normal work for a day. People at every level name what is broken and propose fixes.
Why it matters for senior teams
Only a senior team can install it
Evidence
No reference link has been found for this move yet.
Also fits: The people who know something don't say it
Home problem: The team doesn't stop to reflect between rounds