Delphi Method Prevents Groupthink

A decision-making framework that uses anonymous, time-delayed responses to improve group decisions and prevent common meeting pitfalls like groupthink or dominant personalities.

Core Problems It Solves

• Prevents loudest/most charismatic people from dominating discussions
• Eliminates bias from high-ranking officials getting their way
• Removes pressure of real-time responses in meetings
• Prevents groupthink through anonymous contributions
• Gives thoughtful people time to formulate responses

The Delphi Method Process

• Everyone gets same set of initial facts
• Participants write down initial thoughts anonymously
• Responses are circulated to whole group without names attached
• People can revise statements based on new information
• Process repeats multiple rounds until reaching strongest arguments
• Focuses on merit of ideas rather than who proposed them

Real World Implementation: Thinking Time (Slack App)

• Created by Josh Ellman (former growth lead at Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook)
• Built specifically for Slack
• Process:
  • Anyone can prompt a question
  • Sets specific time window for responses (e.g. 4 hours)
  • All answers released simultaneously after time window
  • Prevents early responses from influencing others

Benefits

• Gives people time to think deeply about responses
• Removes pressure of being first to respond
• Eliminates influence of hierarchy/status
• Allows quieter voices to be heard equally
• Creates more meritocratic decision-making process

Notable Success

• CEO at Twitch implemented this to solve problem of people assuming his opinion was always right
• Helped surface ideas from people furthest from leadership who had better data
• Particularly valuable for remote/distributed teams