Sense and decide
Principles before personalities; anonymity levels status
Structure a discussion so ideas get weighed on merit rather than on the speaker's rank, sometimes by taking names off contributions.
Borrowed from the meeting format of Alcoholics Anonymous and other twelve-step recovery groups. Read the original source.
Changes a rule or role · Minutes to start · Anyone on the team can start it
Try this first
For a charged question, collect everyone's input in writing first, then discuss the points without saying whose they are.
Use it when
Ideas are being judged by who said them.
Skip it when
Anonymity does not suit every setting. It thins accountability and hides bad-faith input. Use it to surface honest views on sensitive topics, not for decisions that need a clear owner.
How to introduce it
Set up the discussion so what gets said outweighs who said it. That can be a norm of judging the idea whatever the speaker's seniority. For charged topics, collect input without names, so a junior point and a senior point carry the same weight.
How to show up
Protect ideas from the speaker's status. Turn "who said it" back into "is it right." If you take names off, make sure it levels the room rather than opening a channel for sniping.
How long it takes
A little setup if you use written or anonymous input. Otherwise it's a standing norm.
What makes it hard
Senior voices carry weight even after you ask them not to, so structure beats instruction. Writing first does more than a rule. With anonymity, watch for people using cover to snipe.
What it looks like when it's working
Junior ideas get the same hearing as senior ones and the discussion turns on merit. A room that still defers to the top means the structure is not strong enough to change the discussion.
How long until it sticks
Expect several discussions before merit-over-rank becomes the felt default rather than a stated rule.
How you know it stuck
People challenge and build on a senior person's idea as readily as anyone else's.
The idea behind it
Good ideas come from every level, and rank bends how they land. Separating the idea from its author lets the best thinking win.
Where it comes from
Twelve-step recovery groups. Structures that separate the idea from the rank of who said it. The format deliberately equalizes. A CEO and a student share as equals.
Why it matters for senior teams
Seniority can make this problem worse because people are less likely to challenge a high-status colleague