I used to ask open questions like: “How are we feeling about this?” “Any concerns?” “Thoughts?”
The pattern was always the same: a few people spoke, some nodded, many stayed silent. In the moment, it felt aligned. Weeks later, execution slowed and people realized they’d understood the decision differently. I experimented with a constraint instead of more discussion. At the end of a meeting, everyone answers with one word. No explanations. No defending. No context.
What surprised me was that removing explanations surfaced patterns: clusters of hesitation, quiet tension or alignment, without putting anyone on the spot. Room Read is a simple implementation of that idea. It’s intentionally minimal and fast, meant to reveal signals before teams move on.
Built solo, feedback welcome. https://www.cognu.app/room-read