From a co-intelligence perspective, consensus means more than
merely broad agreement. In fact, when we're aiming for true consensus
we're less concerned about generating agreement than generating
wise solutions that take into account all the relevant needs and
perspectives. Once we have taken into account the full picture,
agreement usually follows naturally -- and it's not a reluctant,
conditional agreement. When we all shape the outcome, we become
invested in its success. Implementation is much smoother than
when a majority has ruled and left an upset minority to impede
progress.
Those intent on agreement-by-any-means use force, compromise,
tangential deal-making and other strategies to get agreement.
This may bring more parties onto their bandwagon, but it seldom
results in a truly wise agreement. From the co-intelligence perspective,
this sort of agreement-brokering is almost like cheating on a
test to get a high score, rather than learning the material well
enough that you understand it, so that passing the test is a natural
-- and secondary -- outcome. Agreement-brokering may be necessary
in some very difficult circumstances, but it isn't true consensus
and shouldn't be accepted as standard practice.
When people compete for individual gain instead of cooperating
for mutual or collective gain, they use their brilliance to undermine
each other, thus reducing their collective
intelligence. True consensus process taps into the creativity,
insights, experience, and perspectives of all the parties involved.
Significantly, consensus process treats the differences between
people not as problems, but as stimulants to deeper inquiry and
greater wisdom.
While consensus process is most directly applicable to groups
of up to several dozen people, it has been expanded to groups
of thousands by dividing people into smaller groups who send spokespeople
to a spokescouncil. Both the smaller groups and the spokescouncil
are run by consensus, and issues go back and forth between the
two levels until full agreement is reached. An innovation called
the Wisdom Council allows a
large population (a community or country) to also get the benefits
of consensus process.
Although many close-knit, values-based groups practice consensus
without a facilitator, most groups need help navigating their
own rapids. The best book I know of for this purpose is Sam Kaner's
Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making (New
Society Publishers, 1996), which is filled with simple, powerful
theory and practical suggestions presented in a convenient page-by-page
format intended to be photocopied for sharing among participants.
Available for $24.95 plus $6 shipping from Community at Work,
1 Tubbs St., San Francisco, CA 94107; (415) 641-9773.
Workshops
Jim Rough's Dynamic Facilitation
and Choice-Creating Seminar - This seminar teaches the most
fluid, powerful form of consensus process I know, which also happens
to be the process behind the Wisdom
Council, the most powerful democratic innovation I know. My
own experience in the seminar is described briefly at the bottom
of the Wisdom Council page.
Group Facilitation Skills: Putting Participatory Values into Practice - Taught by Sam Kaner , author of the above book. Brimming with useful tools. Community at Work, 1 Tubbs St., San Francisco, CA 94107; (415) 641-9773.
Other resources (books and organizations) [Thanks to Tree Bressen]
See also
Randy Schutt's approach to consensus process in nonviolent movement activities, as well as his other papers
For a sacred form of consensus, see The Quaker Way of Discussing Business
How We Really Shut Down the WTO (process notes) by Starhawk and other articles at Co-intelligence thoughts on Seattle WTO demonstrations.