I am in a funky space and a bit off-balance.
I was invited to participate in a "consensus building exercise" to "create a vision for the future".
My visceral reaction surprised me. I tasted vomit in the back of my throat.
My experience with "consensus building" has been toxic. In my humble opinion, it would be more accurate to identify it as "manufacturing consensus", or at least the building of the illusion of consensus.
"Consensus manufacturing" is the process where a vocal minority loads up Focus-groups with a majority of compliant Non-Playing-Characters and a minority of opinion leaders. Next, they get everybody to agree to "support" the "consensus opinion". The next step is to coerce the NPCs to support the predetermined objective and pass resolutions over the strongly held convictions of the minority opinion leaders. Finally, they demand that the opinion leaders "honor" their commitment to support the consensus by "signing" the resolutions.
The vocal minority then takes the signed letter to the public and to "higher management" and demands that the "consensus of the majority" be honored.
NOPE. Not going there. Been there. Done that. Got the scar tissue. The fix-is-in and I refuse to be the back-drop in the scenery to give it the look and feel of reality.
If you have more stomach for it than I do, when they get to the "But you will support the consensus even if you disagree" stage, ask if that means supporting it even if the consensus is illegal or immoral. Ask them why the illusion of a unanimous-front is important.
There is a minor school of economists that humans are rational and that they learn. "Tricks" that induced them to make decisions that were sub-optimal for the individual stop working as humans develop rational expectations about where the look-and-feel of those tricks lead. Example: "Book-of-the-month club". Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
I retired from all that nonsense and feel so relieved not to have to pretend to be engaged in a pretend exercise with the pretense of objectivity. My employer was a large international oil and gas company tha had sold its soul and bought into the Green Adjenda, DEI, and all the other associated bs.
ReplyDeleteConsensus building is another term for blackmailing and browbeating weak minded morons into going along with what is invariably a very bad idea.
ReplyDeleteI've seen juries work that way. And the medical community is a perfect example.---ken
ReplyDeleteWasn't that the point in, Twelve Angry Men?
DeleteI am too independant and with strong moral convictions to partake in that nonsense. I am also outspoken about my developed sense of injustice.
DeleteI got a taste while at a large corp in my college age. It became a motivation towards self-employment.
The group just wants to take credit for your participation to bolster their own reputation and that of the outcome. I always look at as some people join clubs, some go it alone. Some prefer team sports, some individual. I'll stay individually oriented, responsible for myself, undiluted by what others do.
ReplyDeleteConcur with CoyoteKen!
ReplyDeleteA good idea builds its own consensus. Stupid ideas rely on coercion for consensus.
ReplyDeletesam
Thanks for the timely reminder. I am on a committee that is revising our town's Master Plan (stupid but required by state law). A big risk in such projects is that a few strong personalities will try to impose their opinion on the group and therefore miss out on important, good ideas while pissing everyone off. DAMHIKT, I'm one of them and it takes a real effort to keep my mouth shut.
ReplyDeleteConsensus building is a herd mentality. ISO is a consensus program in business that makes the masters into techs and techs into masters. There are multiple examples of having a correct answer to a problem that is contradictory to the consensus. There is a lot of wisdom to understanding the knowledge within a consensus but you must know its limitations.
ReplyDeleteTruly building a consensus is usually a good thing. But it takes a statesman and actually listening to and compromising with your opponent - that is vanishingly rare today.
ReplyDeleteBut lots of people want to look like statesmen while getting their own way, so instead they try to force consensus.
Jonathan