Group decisions improve when the discussion surfaces evidence held by individual members.
01 · The picture
Group decisions improve when the discussion surfaces evidence held by individual members.
Follow the decisions
01Individual evidence
02Shared picture
03Compare options
04Decide
02 · The idea
How I understand it.
Groups can spend most of a meeting repeating facts everybody already knows. Important evidence may sit with one person who has a different role, customer relationship or experience. Collect that information before asking the group to choose. Ask each participant to identify evidence others may be missing and distinguish observations from interpretations. Early preference polls can make the majority view visible before the evidence has been explored, creating pressure to converge. Compare the options against specific criteria, with enough time to investigate conflicting information. The meeting chair should make space for contributions from quieter participants and record unresolved questions. A decision becomes more useful when the team can explain both the evidence supporting it and the uncertainty that remains.
03 · A fictional example
Put it into a business.
A wholesaler is choosing a delivery partner. Most managers favour the cheapest bid. Before discussing preferences, each person shares a fact others may lack. Customer support reports repeated evening access problems; operations identifies a partner with later routes. The team compares bids against delivery success, total cost and coverage, then requests evidence on the remaining gaps before selection.
04 · Bring it into the room
What does each person know that the rest of the decision group has yet to hear?
One decisionOne next actionOne way to check
Where this note comes from
An original explanation drawn from my saved learning material. The worked example is fictional.
StanfordSaved learning summary
Huggy Rao’s Scaling Excellence
PDF pages 1–2: Harnessing Collective Intelligence; Common Knowledge Effect and Hidden Profiles; Effective Interventions
These notes collect my interpretations and applications. The schools and authors retain their original teaching materials.