The quiet relief of a fair turn

We were all standing there, a bit tired, the morning coffee not quite kicking in yet. The unspoken question of who would go first in the standup was starting to feel heavier than it should.

When the order becomes a thing

It was a small thing, really. But over time, you start to notice the patterns. The same person would jump in, or there’d be that awkward pause where everyone waits for someone else to break the silence.I could see it adding a tiny bit of friction to the start of our day. A minor decision was taking up mental space before we’d even begun the real work.

Letting the wheel decide

I brought up the idea of a random order wheel almost sheepishly. It felt almost too simple to mention. But the immediate, collective shrug of agreement told me everything.There was a palpable sense of relief in the room. Not a big, dramatic one, but the quiet kind. The mental load of deciding, of potentially stepping on toes or dominating the conversation, just evaporated.We spun it for the first time, and someone’s name landed at the top. They just started talking. It was that easy.

The subtle shift in energy

After that, the standup just… flowed. The focus shifted entirely to the work, to the updates, instead of the meta-conversation about sequence.

An unexpected side effect

It evened out the airtime in a way I hadn’t fully anticipated. The quieter team members got their turn at the start sometimes, setting the tone for their day on their terms.