#19 Do we live in a dotocracy?

Should we be living in a dotocracy?

Everyone uses dot-voting. It's fast, it feels democratic, and it gives a room full of people a satisfying sense of progress. The problem is that most of the time, it's being asked to do something it was never designed for.

In this episode I'm talking about the difference between narrowing a list and making a decision — and why confusing the two is one of the most common ways workshops quietly go wrong. I'll cover why dot-voting without criteria is just a popularity contest, why the dots are contagious, and why not everyone's vote is equal — and why that's absolutely fine.

If you've ever watched a cluster form on a wall of post-its and wondered whether anything actually got decided, this one's for you.

In this episode:

• Why groups surface options but individuals make decisions

• Yhree ways dot-voting goes wrong

• How to set it up so it actually means something

• When to put the dots away entirely

Links and resources mentioned:

Issue #8 — Drive good decision-making with criteria

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