If Everyone’s Nodding, You’re Missing Something

You’ve been there: the meeting where the business lays out requirements, everyone nods politely, and the call ends with zero objections. Success, right? Wrong. That silence isn’t agreement, it’s a red flag.

When everyone’s nodding, it usually means one of three things:

1. Nobody actually understands what’s being asked. But nobody wants to look dumb, so they just nod.

2. People disagree but don’t want to start a fight. Easier to nod now and sabotage later.

3. They’re not listening at all. Nods are just the default setting.

BSAs, devs, and support folks know this dance. You’ve all felt that pit in your stomach when you walk out of a meeting thinking, “That seemed too easy.” Spoiler: it was.

The fix isn’t complicated, but it takes guts:

• Ask the dumb questions. If you don’t understand, chances are someone else doesn’t either.
• Force specifics. “What does done look like?” “What’s the edge case?” If the answer is vague, you don’t have an answer yet.
• Invite disagreement. “What’s wrong with this idea?” is a better question than “Any concerns?”
• Watch the silence. Ten seconds of awkward beats six months of rework.

Meetings full of nods are like code reviews with zero comments: it’s either perfect (it’s not) or people aren’t paying attention.

Nods don’t ship products. Questions do.