Then Joan asked the board members to use a voting app on their phones to give their own rating on the assessment—either the same as the deal team’s proposed rating or a different one. The distribution of ratings was projected immediately on the screen, without identifying the raters. “This is not a vote,” Joan explained. “We are just taking the temperature of the room on each topic.” By getting an immediate read on each board member’s independent opinion before starting a discussion, Joan reduced the danger of social influence and information cascades.
