What Do You Get When You Give Everyone a Blank Card?
It turns out, you get some of the best ideas in the room.
Long before virtual whiteboards, sprint retros, or AI brainstorming assistants, a man named Dr. C.C. Crawford—an American education researcher—developed a simple but powerful method for gathering ideas from a group: the slip method.
At first glance, it looks too simple to take seriously. You give participants a stack of small cards (or “slips”) and a clear question. Each person writes one idea per card—anonymously and individually. Then the ideas are collected, grouped, and discussed.
That’s it.
No sticky notes. No ranking or voting. No design thinking jargon.
And yet, in my years of working with high-performance teams in tech, I’ve seen this analog technique outperform digital tools—especially when you need honest input, fast idea generation, and equal participation.
Let’s take a look at why this method still works in modern teams, and how you can use it in your own projects.
Why the Method Was Invented (and Still Matters)
In the 1920s, Crawford developed this method to improve decision-making in classrooms, workshops, and later—public policy environments. His core belief was radical at the time:
“People are more honest, creative, and engaged when they can contribute anonymously, without fear or hierarchy.”
Sound familiar?
In today’s cross-functional, hybrid, and often politically charged project environments, that idea feels more relevant than ever.
The Crawford Slip Method, Step by Step
Here’s how it works, in its classic form:
- Pose a clear question: Something like “What are the biggest risks to this project?” or “What’s one thing we could improve in our delivery process?”
- Distribute blank slips or cards: Physical or digital—just make sure each idea goes on its own slip.
- Give participants quiet time to write: No discussion, no prompting. Everyone writes in silence.
- Collect the slips: This can be done via a drop box, handoff, or digital collection.
- Group and analyze: The facilitator organizes the responses into themes, duplicates are removed, patterns are identified.
- Discuss and prioritize: The group then reviews the results—often with better clarity and balance than in open discussion.
Simple, right? But beneath the simplicity is a method that cuts through noise and power dynamics like few others.
Why It Still Works in the Age of AI and Zoom
1. Anonymity Fosters Candor
Even in the most open cultures, people self-censor—especially in front of leadership. The slip method gives introverts, junior employees, and skeptics a way to speak without social risk.
I’ve seen engineering teams surface security concerns, product teams admit missed assumptions, and project managers flag resourcing gaps—all through slips they’d never raise in a standup.
2. Quantity Over Quality (At First)
The slip method encourages volume of ideas before filtering for quality. It mirrors how creative brains actually work. You dump out ideas first—good, bad, and weird—then sift through the gold.
It’s divergent thinking before convergence.
3. Equal Participation
In meetings, louder voices dominate. In slip exercises, every participant contributes equally. I’ve used it in retrospectives, kickoff sessions, stakeholder reviews—even in tense war rooms.
It levels the playing field without forcing people to “perform” in front of others.
4. Asynchronous Friendly
You don’t need everyone in a room. A Google Form or Miro board with “one idea per card” works just as well. Give teams 24 hours to respond, then run analysis when convenient.
In hybrid and remote teams, this is a game-changer.
How I’ve Used It in Tech Projects
Retrospectives
Instead of asking “What went well?” and “What didn’t?” aloud, I ask those questions via slips first. We get more honest answers—and often more strategic ones. The themes practically reveal themselves.
Risk Identification
In pre-mortem sessions, I ask, “If this project failed spectacularly, what would be the likely reasons?” Slips pour in. We group them, turn them into risk categories, and create mitigation plans. It’s fast and fear-free.
Strategic Planning
Even leadership offsites benefit. Try asking: “What’s one opportunity our organization isn’t seeing?” or “What assumptions are we making that may not be true?” The slip method helps break groupthink.
A Few Tips from the Trenches
- Frame the question carefully. Vague questions lead to vague answers. Use clear, actionable prompts.
- Don’t mix topics. One theme per session: risks, improvements, decisions, etc.
- Limit to one idea per slip. It forces clarity and helps with later grouping.
- Group anonymously—but share publicly. Protect contributors, but let the group learn together.
- Don’t skip the synthesis. The magic is in grouping, not in reading slips aloud. Patterns matter.
Digital Variants That Work
Yes, we’ve evolved. You can recreate this method digitally:
- Google Forms with paragraph text boxes
- Miro or Mural with sticky note templates
- Jira Forms for Agile teams
- Notion databases with anonymous contributors
But don’t overengineer it. What matters is the structure: solitary input, equal space, centralized analysis.
Final Word: Old-School Wisdom for Modern Teams
The Crawford Slip Method isn’t a tool you use every day. But it’s one I keep in my back pocket for the moments that matter—when you need unfiltered insight, when you want to surface hidden risks, when groupthink starts creeping in.
In an era of sophisticated tools and complex workflows, sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is hand your team a metaphorical blank card and ask:
“What do you really think?”
You might be surprised by what you get back.
