Polle de Maagt 
Polle de MaagtThe squeak system means you just start doing things, until someone starts to squeak. In Dutch: “het piepsysteem”. I first heard it from Frans, a colleague at NS Dutch Railways.
Why it works.
A proposal asks people to imagine whether something will work. A small experiment gives them something to judge. Before you start, objections multiply. Afterwards, they get concrete: what did we miss, what should we change next week?
The squeak is not a failure. It tells you where the boundary is, or who you forgot to involve.
We worked that way on the KLM Surprise campaign: do it first, ask for forgiveness later. What I learned is that most of the objections live in advance. Once it is out there, it usually goes fine, and people often appreciate it.
The real disease is not doing things. No wonder “I wish I had” turns up far more often than “I wish I hadn’t”. Psychologists found the same: in the long run, people regret what they did not do more than what they did.
Where it goes wrong.
Silence is not agreement. People may not know what you are doing, may not feel safe to object, or may find out too late.
And there is a lazy version: leaving known problems alone until a customer complains. Then the squeak system is not about initiative. It makes someone else do the work.
How to do it well.
- Keep it small and easy to undo.
- Stay within what you are allowed to decide.
- Say what will change and who it affects.
- Make it easy to object.
- Agree when you will look back.
Don't wait for the squeak. Make it easy to squeak.
Pick one small change you have been postponing. Tell the people affected: “I’d like to try this once. Here is what changes. Tell me if it creates a problem.” Then do it, and ask them afterwards.
Sources: Jelle Klerx, Het piepsysteem, Broadcast Magazine, 2020. Regret: Gilovich and Medvec, “The experience of regret”, Psychological Review, 1995. For a more formal way to invite objections: consent in Sociocracy 3.0. Related: The magic of failing spectacularly.
