A Culture of Consensus

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It is my belief that the best way to build the future we want to live in is to manifest principles of that future in our present. I also believe that one of the tools required for building a free and humane tomorrow is consensus. Therefore, it would be fantastic if this was engraved in our culture and in our way of being. Let's imagine how that could unfold – by putting human behaviour in different contexts.

Human behaviour has a surprisingly wide range, so wide that there are no two people alike. This comes from the fact that each of us experience the world in a unique way and thus understand things differently. There is no secret that the environment is a major factor in the way we develop as individuals and it will always be this way. Even fully developed adults will have different behaviours depending on the context they are faced with. Thus, it's no surprise that while the world is changing around us, human behaviour changes as well. This is something we need to understand in order to prepare for what is to come.

For the argumentation of this post we will discuss two major environmental conditions that have the possibility of resulting in two completely different human behaviours: scarcity and abundance.

Scarcity driven behaviour

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For the most part of human history, we’ve lived in a scarcity paradigm in which we didn’t have the understanding to provide for everyone's basic needs. And because there was a real lack of basic things needed for sustaining life, conflict was a natural consequence. I would argue that Darwin’s conclusion of survival of the fittest arose from this very context.

So, in a scarcity paradigm it makes sense that the fittest individuals have the upper hand, both due to the fact that they could work harder, as well as because they could take what they need by force from others less fit. This also manifested as a group behaviour in which alliances of individuals would attack lesser groups and take what they wanted. To conclude, scarcity equals conflict.

Abundance driven behaviour

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I would hope and argue on the fact that, as scarcity breeds conflict, abundance will breed cooperation. Abundance is a game changer on many different levels, especially in human group behaviour. It's clear that if all basic needs of life are met, there would be less conflict, so let’s take it a step further and imagine what could be.

Abundance is the result of applying human understanding into meeting the needs of all people, and that will happen sooner or later. The advent of abundance can only occur in a collaborative way in which people will find technological solutions that support and provide a more than decent standard of living for everyone. But this will not only require technology advancement. Social sciences and education will play an enormous role in building this future, suffice to say it will be an interdisciplinary effort.

At that point, when abundance is a reality, people will be able to compare the fruits of collaboration to those of conflict, and collaboration will win with no doubts. Thus, this new material paradigm will give way to a new behavioural paradigm, in which people understand that collaboration yields far better results. So, the question now is, what would be the best approach towards collaboration?

Consensus as a tool of collaboration

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Let’s take as an example a team that has a mission. The very notion of a team implies collaboration, but this does not always happen. Each team member has different sets of values and beliefs, getting them to come up differently with solutions. If decisions are enforced within a team, this will create division which will manifest in different ways, from members being disengaged in implementing the solution to members that could actively sabotage it because it is in conflict with their beliefs. So it’s clear that unilateral decision making in a team is not the best way to do things. In a collaborative process the key is to have each team member as motivated and dedicated to the solution as possible. This is where consensus comes into play. Because of the current state of affairs the world rests in, consensus is something rarely discussed and there is a lot of mystery surrounding it, making it as magical and rare as a unicorn. So let’s try to clear things up.

First, let’s start with the definition of consensus, which is “a general agreement”. But please keep in mind that this does not necessary mean a complete agreement or unanimity, but a solution built on areas of agreement which everyone can live with, although it’s not anyone’s perfect scenario. So one of the key aspects of this type of collaboration is that it does not start from opposing points of view, rather it seeks to find what the common beliefs are and start building from there, aiming to find a solution that would take into account each member’s concerns and ideas.

It is my personal opinion, that if egos and biases are transcended, a collaborative consensus based decision will yield better results that an individual process, exactly as wisdom of a crowd is better that just one expert opinion.

A consensus building mindset

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This part of the post is a direct interpretation of The Five Rules of Skillful Discussion presented in an World Vision - Community Engagement Tools document.

Consensus building is not the easiest way to reach a decision, it involves a lot of patience and open minded discussion, also egos and biases need to be held back. These are some common sense rules that can help in this process.

1.Keep the objective of the discussion in mind throughout the whole meeting

From the very beginning make sure that the desired outcome of the discussion is clear for everyone. When presenting ideas, make sure they are on point and relevant to the issue at hand. If needed, a reminder of the purpose is welcomed, especially when personal conflicts or personal agendas arise.

2.Treat everyone as equals.

During the discussion keep your mind open and curious to new points of view. It would be best to ask as many questions about other people’s perspective and try to give them as much credit as yours.

3.Make sure everyone is on the same page

During a discussion there will be confusion, if you come upon moments in which words or concepts are not used correctly, it would be best to clear it up. If there are technical terms, they should be accompanied by an explanation. The language used should be as clear and concise as possible and you should check if the others understood it well.

4.Feelings should have a say as well

We are not robots, feelings will invariably make their way into discussion, you should not neglect them, but do not act without understanding them. If something makes you feel frustrated or enthusiastic, understand why this is happening and bring it into the discussion.

5.Do not avoid strong disagreements

Strong disagreements need to be understood because this will bring future depth to the discussion. You should not take someone disagreeing with you personally, but you should pay as much attention as possible to their arguments, maybe there is something you missed. If you disagree with someone, present your counterarguments as clear and as friendly as possible. If profound disagreements occur you will need to brake them up into smaller bits and identify where the problem is exactly, and a good way of settling a disagreement is by finding a middle ground.

An exemplified structure for consensus building

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1. Present the purpose of the meeting, make sure that everything is clear and that all the team members understand how the desired outcome needs to look.

2. Brainstorm. All members will need to bring as many ideas as possible to the table. For this step the team needs to take its time and present their ideas as clear and as argumented as possible. No one should be rushed and everyone needs to have their voice and opinions heard.

3. Filter out some ideas and concentrate on those that are generally supported. After the brainstorming is done and you have a list of ideas, a voting mechanism should be applied, but not a vote per person. Depending on how complex the solution needs to be, each member should have 5 or 10 votes to give, the higher the number given, the more confidence one has in the idea. After summing up all the votes, you will have a list of 5 or 10 ideas that found support.

4. Analyze these ideas in depth. A tool for such an analysis could be the six thinking hats approach which looks at the ideas from different perspectives. The group should all “wear” the six hats and present their input. The following information is presented here on mindtoolds.com:

White Hat: with this thinking hat, you focus on the available data. Look at the information that you have, analyze past trends, and see what you can learn from it. Look for gaps in your knowledge, and try to either fill them or keep track of them.
Red Hat: "wearing" the Red Hat, you look at problems using your intuition, gut reaction, and emotion. Also, think how others could react emotionally. Try to understand the responses of people who do not fully know your reasoning.
Black Hat: using Black Hat thinking, look at a decision's potentially negative outcomes. Look at it cautiously and defensively. Try to see why it might not work. This is important because it highlights the weak points in a plan. It allows you to eliminate them, alter them, or prepare contingency plans to counter them.

Black Hat thinking helps to make your plans "tougher" and more resilient. It can also help you spot fatal flaws and risks before you embark on a course of action. It's one of the real benefits of this model, as many successful people get so used to thinking positively that they often cannot see problems in advance. This leaves them under-prepared for difficulties.
Yellow Hat: this hat helps you to think positively. It is the optimistic viewpoint that helps you see all the benefits of the decision and the value in it. Yellow Hat thinking helps you to keep going when everything looks gloomy and difficult.
Green Hat: the Green Hat represents creativity. This is where you develop creative solutions to a problem. It is a freewheeling way of thinking, in which there is little criticism of ideas.
Blue Hat: this hat represents process control. It's the hat worn by people chairing meetings, for example. When facing difficulties because ideas are running dry, they may direct activity into Green Hat thinking. When contingency plans are needed, they will ask for Black Hat thinking.

5.Wrap up all that was discussed and agreed upon in a coherent way and see if this is something all the team members support. If needed, explore only the areas of disagreement and try to find alternative ways that can be accepted by all. Repeat until consensus is reached.