In this episode of the Agile Skills Library, Geoff Watts and Paul Goddard explore DECIDE, a practical technique for collaborative decision-making that helps teams move beyond dominance, silence, and weak compromise.
DECIDE provides a simple structure for involving the right people, surfacing different perspectives, and making decisions with genuine buy-in — without endless debate or forced consensus. The episode walks through the principles behind the model, the six DECIDE stances, and how to use the technique in real team and leadership settings.
Ideal for Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches, product leaders, and anyone facilitating group decisions, this episode shows how to create clarity, psychological safety, and shared ownership when decisions actually matter.
Geoff Watts:
Hello, Paul. Hello, listeners.
Paul Goddard:
Hello, Geoff. Welcome back.
Geoff Watts:
Welcome to another episode of the Agile Skills Library, with me, Geoff Watts, and my good friend Paul Goddard.
Today we’re looking at another technique you can use in your work — and you don’t even need to be in an agile role to use this one. If you’re involved in decision-making, and you’re not a complete dictator, then this technique is for you.
If you want involvement, engagement, and buy-in from other people, this one helps.
It’s called DECIDE — all capitals.
Paul, I can see you reaching for the cards already.
Paul Goddard:
I am. I’ve got the original cardboard versions here. Other versions are available.
So — why is this important?
Geoff Watts:
Why do you think this matters?
Paul Goddard:
I think it’s very easy for one person to take over decision-making — especially when there isn’t a strong team culture.
We don’t like awkward silence. Someone feels uncomfortable, pipes up, and suddenly a decision is made. That’s often not the best person to decide — sometimes it’s just the most senior or the most confident.
Silence often gets interpreted as agreement, and that’s a dangerous assumption.
Even if I don’t care deeply about the decision, I still want the opportunity to have a voice.
Geoff Watts:
Exactly. We used to teach Scrum teams that self-managing, cross-functional teams need to make decisions together.
We often talk about consensus — but I have a real bugbear about compromise. Compromise is often weak. It’s usually the easiest middle ground, and nobody’s particularly happy.
Sometimes compromise is the right answer — but only if you’ve worked your way to it, not because it was the quickest escape.
This applies everywhere:
Any situation where you need insight, expertise, or buy-in from others.
Paul Goddard:
And to be clear — not every decision needs this.
If it’s your call, just decide.
If it doesn’t need buy-in, don’t overcook it.
This technique is for collaborative, high-buy-in decisions.
Geoff Watts:
One of the strengths of DECIDE is that it provides structure.
Telling a team “come to consensus” without structure is daunting. Even if teams adapt the structure later, having a starting point really helps.
DECIDE is a deck of seven cards — though you can easily recreate it with paper.
The first card is Principles.
These are rules of engagement for decision-making. We give teams a starting set, and they’re free to change them.
The principles include:
That last one took some persuading — Paul eventually compromised with me.
If anyone strongly disagrees with a principle, it can be removed or replaced. The point is shared agreement before deciding anything.
Geoff Watts:
Next, we name the decision that needs to be made.
It could be:
We then timebox discussion and let the group talk.
When the timebox ends, we ask the quietest person to summarise what they’ve heard.
Paul Goddard:
The assumption is they’ve been listening more than anyone else.
Good listeners often give the best summary — though it’s not gospel. The group can still challenge or add to it.
Geoff Watts:
That person then proposes a decision based on what they’ve heard.
At that point, everyone shows their level of support using the DECIDE stances.
Each stance is represented by a card — or by standing in a physical space in the room.
D — Deny
“I cannot support this.”
It violates values, feels unsafe, or is simply unacceptable.
E — Enquire
“I need more information.”
Not enough clarity yet to take a firm position.
C — Concede
“I don’t really care.”
No strong opinion — happy to support the group’s decision.
I — Iterate
“The core idea works, but it needs refinement.”
Almost there, but not quite.
D — Defend
“It’s good enough.”
Not perfect, but worth supporting.
E — Endorse
“I’m fully behind this.”
Strong, energetic support — often because it was your idea.
Paul Goddard:
I once suggested adding a seventh card: Defer.
Sometimes the right decision is not to decide yet. That doesn’t mean avoidance — it can mean timing matters.
Also, in one senior leadership group, a facilitator removed the Iterate card because executives kept trying to add their final flourish to every decision. It was slowing everything down.
You can — and should — tailor this.
Geoff Watts:
Make it your own.
We also encourage everyone to reveal their cards at the same time, so people aren’t influenced by others’ positions.
Paul Goddard:
This is powerful for people who hate speaking up.
You can express disagreement, uncertainty, or support without confrontation — just by holding up a card.
It ensures every voice is counted, even if it’s silent.
Geoff Watts:
One unintended benefit is speed.
Often, half the group defends and half concedes — great, move on.
If half the group denies, you know immediately this won’t work. No amount of persuasion will fix that.
It avoids both violent agreement and endless debate.
Paul Goddard:
Timing matters. Don’t do this at 4:59pm on a Friday.
Geoff Watts:
And don’t use this for everything.
This technique is for risky, complex, collaborative decisions — where insight and buy-in really matter.
For everything else:
Also pay attention to hygiene factors:
Paul Goddard:
You can easily make your own DECIDE cards — though the original versions are now rare collector’s items.
Geoff Watts:
We’ll share a printable PDF so you can try this yourself.
And we’d love to hear how you use it — especially if you improve it.
If you’ve got a situation you’d like help with, tell us about it. We’ll find the right technique and bring it to the top of the backlog.
Paul Goddard:
Thanks, Geoff. I enjoyed that.
Geoff Watts:
Until next time.
Paul Goddard:
Bye-bye for now.