Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
I recently published an article on how groups make decisions. One among the ways is by constructing consensus. I desired to elaborate on it today because groups can often get consensus constructing incorrect.
Teams sometimes consider that the goal of consensus constructing is to get everyone to fall in love with the choice. It’s not. In truth, the goal isn’t even to get everyone to like the choice. The goal of consensus constructing is to get everyone to live with the choice. That’s an enormous difference.
Let me attempt to share an example from one in every of my favorite business books, “The Abilene Paradox” by Jerry B. Harvey. Side note: I had the pleasure of hearing him tell the story firsthand at a conference a few years ago. I’m undecided that I could ever tell it the best way Jerry does, so I won’t even try. But do take a look at the synopsis on Wikipedia … it’s really good.
The paradox lies within the perils of groupthink, when a team goes together with a choice though individuals within the group don’t agree with it. An illustration of the paradox might be the office birthday celebration. It’s someone’s birthday so the tradition is to purchase a cake. Nevertheless, truth be told … the cake really isn’t that good. In some unspecified time in the future, someone gets the center to say something about it. Then the corporate realizes that everybody hates the cake but was going through the motions because they thought everyone else liked it. That’s the paradox.
While the birthday cake example is easy, you may see how this could translate in the case of greater decisions. The group decides. An individual doesn’t prefer it but goes together with it anyway. It seems to be a foul decision. And the person says, “Me? I never liked the concept but everyone else desired to do it, so I went along.”
I don’t should inform you the issues with this. After the choice is made, the group is faced with an issue and persons are backing away under “Me? I never thought it was an excellent idea. But I used to be outnumbered, so no must bring it up.” I can hear the bus wheels screeching as I’m typing this.
So, if you desire to avoid a “never liked the concept, but…” response, consider making a strategy to discuss matters and construct consensus. A colleague of mine shared a consensus constructing straw poll that they’ve found to be effective. The poll is easy. Ask each team member to rate their feelings in regards to the decision using a 5L scale.
Detest – Lament – Live – Like – Love
They detest (or hate) it.
They lament or will gripe about it afterward.
They will live with it.
They like it.
They really, really love it.
Once everyone has weighed in, ask yourself, what’s the goal? Does everyone must love the choice? Or as I discussed within the intro, perhaps it’s effective for everybody to simply live with the choice.
The polling process allows the group to take a pulse on how everyone seems to be feeling. If the goal is for everybody to live with the choice, you then can keep discussing until you reach that goal. Or not – then you need to head off in a unique direction. It also means that you can avoid those awkward moments when someone says, “Me? Never agreed with the choice.” Because everyone needed to be comfortable with it (to a certain degree) for it to maneuver forward.
Constructing a culture that allows for constructive feedback and questions will keep you from experiencing this paradox.
Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of Fort Lauderdale, FL
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