The Last 5% Rule

The Challenge

I have found that engineers have a habit of telling you the majority of a story but leave out approximately 5% because they are scared / anxious to be completely open and honest within a 1-1 or group setting.

This last 5% that is held back is usually the most valuable part of a story to learn from and ultimately improve.

Creating Safety

Creating a safe space is imperative to unlocking this 5% as without people feeling like they’re able to communicate safely, they will always hold this back and you as a manager will not get the full picture. Whether that’s feedback on a team member, yourself as a manager or your own manager/s.

If there is resistance to open up when you know as a manager there is something else being held back, you can work through activities such as asking them to write it down and take it offline or pick it up on another time when they have thought more into it.

It’s super important for the individual to feel safe and heard so it’s therefore super important that we focus on creating an environment where we can unlock that valuable 5%.

Practical Technique

I have found a very useful technique in calls where something has gone wrong, which is to reinforce safety.

It’s very simple and effective, start the call with a clarification that we blame systems and not people. The aim of the call isn’t to find blame in people, it’s to figure out what went wrong, why it went wrong and what we can do better in the future.