Nudge · 2-minute read
Anonymous feedback protects people in low-trust environments — but it can’t be followed up, so it rarely gets acted on. How much anonymity you need is a measure of trust.
Anonymity solves a real problem: people won’t speak up if they fear consequences. But anonymous comments arrive without context, can’t be clarified, and can’t be closed out with the person who raised them.
The goal isn’t to abolish anonymity — it’s to build the psychological safety that makes it unnecessary.
The research: Edmondson (1999), Administrative Science Quarterly — psychological safety in work teams.
Adapted from Nudges at Work by Tareef Jafferi, shared in partnership with Happily.ai.
Feedback makes performance worse surprisingly often. Whether it was positive or negative barely matters — what matters is whether it points attention at the work or at the person.
Copying the boss “just in case” looks like transparency. It’s really a symptom of fear — and leaders can cure it one reply at a time.
A one-minute comedy sketch about the email CC line — and what it reveals about trust in your organisation.