Last time, I talked about how the RJ-11 plug reminded me about the great thing that standards offer and how the power of consensus makes this all possible. In my experience, consensus seems to be either unknown or misunderstood by most. The Ball Foundation suggests that "Consensus is mutual agreement among team members that all legitimate concerns of individuals have been addressed by the group and everyone agrees to support the decision." and Merriam Webster has this wonderfully simple definition:"group solidarity in sentiment and belief."
In practice, consensus is about developing a collective decision that every member agrees to support with their words AND their actions. How often do you see that? Too rarely to be sure but whenever it IS seen, it seems to create great and lasting success, joy, and results.
To me, consensus is an extension of and an improvement upon "just" democracy, because consensus is not based on simple majority voting or our input as individuals. Rather, it is the requirement to think, work, and act as a collective, to consider the big picture and the consequences for all. In its true form, consensus requires that EVERYONE in the group helps to develop a plan that they can then support afterward. With the more typical majority vote and other forms of group decision-making, the decisions of the group are often followed by a complete lack of support by those who voted for it.
Another phrase associated with developing consensus—one that is pretty accurate in my experience—is that this process involves "herding cats". In my experience, it also has a few goldfish thrown into the mix! :-) But isn't that our reality? We're not all the same. Like our parents might have said, we are "snowflakes", each of us unique. Not just us as individuals, but each of our projects, our organizations our every situation is an instance of true uniqueness. Yet, is not our diversity and eclecticness the great thing about being human? As we have more and more choice in our lives, more options, and more challenges, isn't there an escalating need to be very proficient and skilled at developing consensus among our groups, be they national, cultural, professional or personal?
In both the present world and the one that is looming, I have to believe that consensus will be one, of if not THE key, determinant of our ability to create and maintain a better world.
More on this later...gotta run.
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