The quiet moment before assigning tasks

We were all gathered, the project plan open on the screen. The energy was focused, but there was that familiar, unspoken pause—the one that happens right before someone has to decide who gets which piece of the work.

That unspoken question of fairness

I could feel the weight of it. Everyone was looking at me, or maybe just at the empty task list. My mind was already racing through everyone's schedules, trying to remember who mentioned being swamped and who had just wrapped up another deliverable.It's not about being a mind-reader. It's about not wanting the decision to feel arbitrary, or worse, like a burden I'm handing out. I wanted a way to step back from being the sole decider, to let the process itself share some of that load.

Letting the wheel hold the tension

So I brought out the wheel. It wasn't a magic solution, just a different starting point. Instead of me announcing names, we'd spin for the first few critical tasks. The click of the spinner became a neutral sound in the room.It created a small buffer, a moment where the assignment felt less personal and more procedural. We all watched it spin, and for a second, the tension wasn't mine alone to manage. It was just a wheel deciding, and we were all just watching it together.

The relief in shared observation

There was a palpable shift when the pointer landed. No one groaned or celebrated too much; it just was. The decision was made, and we could all move on to discussing the work itself, not the politics of it.

A tool for coordination, not abdication

I still use my judgment, of course. The wheel doesn't run the project. But it introduces a little randomness into the coordination, which somehow makes the rest of the planning feel more deliberate and fair.