Using MORE PIES to Gather Better Intel Before You Decide

A close-up shot of a leader in a meeting, leaning forward with an intensely focused and curious expression. They are clearly listening deeply to someone who is off-camera. The atmosphere is one of serious deliberation and information gathering.

As a leader, the quality of your decisions depends directly on the quality of your information. Yet, in many organisations, the flow of accurate, nuanced information to the top is surprisingly poor. Team members, fearing judgment or wanting to appear competent, often filter their reports, downplay risks, and present a rosier picture of reality than is warranted.

They tell you what they think you want to hear, not what you need to know. This leaves leaders making critical decisions based on incomplete or sanitised intelligence. It's like a general planning a battle with a map that conveniently leaves out the swamps and enemy fortifications.

How do you break through this filter? How do you get the ground truth from your team before you make a high-stakes call? The answer lies in repurposing a tool from the world of crisis negotiation. The MORE PIES active listening mnemonic is not just for building rapport; it is a powerful intelligence-gathering framework designed to make people feel safe enough to tell you what's really going on.

This article will break down how each element of MORE PIES can be used as a strategic tool to gather better intel before you decide.

MORE PIES: Your Toolkit for Extracting the Truth

MORE PIES is a collection of active listening techniques that work together to create an environment of psychological safety and encourage disclosure. When a leader uses these skills, they signal that they are genuinely curious and open, rather than just waiting to pass judgment.

Let's explore how each component serves as an information-gathering tool.

M - Minimal Encouragers

What they are: Simple verbal and non-verbal cues like "I see," "uh-huh," and nodding.

How they gather intel: In a meeting, these small signals are powerful. They tell the speaker, "I'm with you, keep going." This encourages them to move beyond their prepared, high-level summary and into the more detailed, candid explanation where the real insights live. It prevents them from truncating their message out of fear they are boring you or taking up too much time.

O - Open-ended Questions

What they are: Questions that can't be answered with a simple "yes" or "no." They typically start with "what," "how," or "tell me about..."

How they gather intel: This is your primary tool for getting past the initial report. Instead of asking, "Is the project on track?" (a closed question that invites a simple "yes"), ask, "What are the biggest challenges the team is currently facing with this project?" The first question seeks confirmation; the second seeks reality. Open-ended questions force a descriptive, nuanced response that is rich with valuable data.

R - Reflecting/Mirroring

What it is: Repeating the last few key words a person has said.

How it gathers intel: This is a surprisingly effective technique for getting someone to elaborate without feeling interrogated. If a team member says, "We're a bit concerned about the integration phase," simply reflecting back, "The integration phase?" with a curious tone prompts them to expand on that specific point, often revealing the precise nature of the risk they were hesitant to state directly.

E - Effective Pauses

What it is: Deliberately allowing for silence after someone has spoken.

How it gathers intel: Most people are uncomfortable with silence and will rush to fill it. As a leader, if you ask a tough question and are met with a brief answer, your instinct might be to jump in with a follow-up. Resist. Hold the silence for a few extra seconds. Very often, the other person will fill that silence with the information they were initially holding back. It's the unspoken appendix to their first answer.

I - 'I' Message

What it is: Structuring your statements around your own feelings and perspective.

How it gathers intel: While often used for conflict resolution, 'I' messages can also be used to express vulnerability and encourage reciprocity. Saying, "I'm feeling a bit unclear on the potential risks here, and I need your help to understand them better," is more effective than, "You haven't explained the risks properly." The first invites collaboration; the second triggers defensiveness.

E - Emotional Labelling

What it is: Naming the emotion you sense in the other person.

How it gathers intel: This is a core tenet of tactical empathy. By saying, "It seems like you're hesitant about this new timeline," you are not only validating their feelings but also opening the door for them to explain the reason for their hesitation. The emotion is often a signpost pointing to a hidden risk or concern. Labelling it gives them permission to talk about it.

S - Summarising

What it is: Concisely restating your understanding of what the person has told you.

How it gathers intel: A good summary does two things. First, it confirms you have understood the information correctly, preventing decisions based on misinterpretation. Second, it gives the other person a chance to correct or add to your understanding. Hearing their own points played back to them often triggers additional thoughts and details they forgot to mention.

From Information to Insight

I once coached an executive who was about to make a major capital investment based on a very positive report from his operations team. Before the final decision, I encouraged him to hold one last meeting and use only MORE PIES techniques.

He didn't challenge or debate. He just listened, reflected, and labelled. He said things like, "It sounds like you're all very confident in the projections," and then he paused. The team, feeling safe and understood, began to open up. They started talking about the "small" assumptions in the model, the "minor" staffing risks, and the "slight" dependency on a volatile supplier.

None of these issues had made it into the official report, but they were the critical ground truth. The intel he gathered in that one hour, simply by listening differently, caused him to delay the decision and build in new contingencies that ultimately saved the project from failure.

Conclusion: Decide with Your Ears Open

Your team has the information you need to make better decisions. The question is whether you have created an environment where they feel safe enough to share it, and whether you have the skills to elicit it.

MORE PIES is that skillset. It transforms you from a passive recipient of filtered reports into an active, empathetic intelligence-gatherer. It moves your team from a position of defensive reporting to one of open collaboration. Before you make your next high-stakes decision, stop talking. Start listening. The quality of your outcome depends on it.

Are you making decisions with all the facts?

Great leadership is about asking the right questions and truly hearing the answers. If you want to equip your team with the advanced communication skills needed for high-stakes environments, let's schedule a call.