Why it matters
DBS introduced MOJO to fix meetings where hierarchy decided who spoke and who stayed silent. Giving any participant — including a junior one — the formal role of observer turns everyday meetings into small leadership labs and gives people explicit permission to challenge how senior leaders behave.
How to run it
- Give every meeting two roles. A Meeting Owner clarifies the purpose, facilitates and confirms decisions. A Joyful Observer watches how the meeting runs. Rotate the observer role so everyone practises it.
- Begin with purpose. The Meeting Owner answers one question: "What must be different by the time this meeting ends?" If nobody can answer, perhaps the meeting shouldn't happen.
- Make participation visible. The Joyful Observer watches for three things: who is contributing and who hasn't been heard; whether ideas are being challenged constructively; whether people are listening or just waiting to speak.
- End with one minute of honest feedback. The observer shares one thing the Meeting Owner did well and one thing to improve — specific, respectful and about behaviours, not personalities.
- Measure the difference. Run it for four weeks. Track whether meetings start and end on time, whether quieter people contribute, whether decisions have clear owners and whether people feel safer disagreeing.
The ritual only works when leaders genuinely welcome feedback. If a junior colleague respectfully challenges a senior leader and suffers for it, MOJO will destroy trust rather than build it.
Read the full story: The Bank That Gave Junior Employees Permission to Challenge the Boss
Watch out for
- Punishing or sidelining an observer after honest feedback — this destroys trust faster than not running the ritual at all
- Letting the observer role always go to the same (or most senior) person
- Feedback about personalities instead of behaviours
When not to use it
If leaders aren't yet ready to hear critical feedback from junior colleagues, start by modelling it in a leadership-team meeting first.
Sources
- Roshan Thiran — The Bank That Gave Junior Employees Permission to Challenge the Boss
- Anthony, Cobban, Nair & Painchaud — Breaking Down the Barriers to Innovation (2020)
- Innosight / Huron — How DBS Transformed Its Culture
