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How Square Makes Tough Decisions
Gokul's S.P.A.D.E. Toolkit: How to implement Square's famous decision-making framework
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My favorite tools in Coda to use with my S.P.A.D.E. framework.
No two S.P.A.D.E.s are alike. As the decision-making process, including Setting and People, change, so too will the tools necessary to carry the framework. Here are three Coda widgets that I find tremendously useful for upholding S.P.A.D.E.'s values of accountability and clarity. Copy and paste the tables below, or find additional drag-and-drop templates by hitting the red plus button at the top of your page.

1) Sentiment Tracker

Consensus may not work, but that doesn't negate the fact that people want to feel included and heard throughout the decision-making process. A sentiment tracker invites all decision stakeholders to weigh-in, which illuminates general reception and provides an aggregate measure of agreement (or disagreement).
I recommend using sentiment trackers throughout the S.P.A.D.E. process. You can see how Shishir and I used one in the Decide step of our
Feature Naming
⁠
example.

⁠
⁠
Check to show everyone's sentiment (
3
⁠
submitted with average sentiment of
2.67
⁠
)
How do you feel about X?
0
Sentiment
Reflection
By
1
I am happy
AD
Adam Davis
2
I am sad
BD
Buck Dubois
3
I feel meh
FM
Felix Marlin
There are no rows in this table
⁠
⁠

2) Topic Voter

Being heard doesn't end with expressing your sentiment. Topic voters give your stakeholders space to actively contribute to the decision-making process.
Want to solicit people to add and vote on their favorite ideas? Add a topic voter, like the one I used in the Alternatives step of our
Feature Naming
⁠
example.
Done
Idea
Author
Vote
Votes Up
Upvoters
1
1st idea
AD
Adam Davis
👍
3
AD
Adam Davis
AC
Alan Chowansky
FM
Felix Marlin
2
3rd idea
AC
Alan Chowansky
👍
2
BD
Buck Dubois
MM
Maria Marquis
3
2nd idea
MM
Maria Marquis
👍
0
​
There are no rows in this table
⁠

3) Send notes with the push of a button

In a world of dispersed teams, it's hard to get everyone in the same place at the same time. Whether you want to get everyone on the same page for a meeting with a pre-read or send out a quick S.P.A.D.E. update, emails reinforce both accountability and clarity.
Email your team an entire Coda section or a single table with a single click of a button, just like I do in the Explain step of our
Feature Naming
⁠
example.
⁠
Send via email
⁠
⁠

⁠

👉 Next up:
ATS Selection
⁠
example S.P.A.D.E.

⁠


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