“I tried,” Adelle shrugged, “but we didn’t make a whole lot of progress. What we ended up with was mostly crap.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“My team has been trying to figure out the best way to solve this problem and there are a bunch of ideas, but we just can’t reach a consensus on which way to proceed. I am afraid to get started until I know for sure that everyone is on board. But every time we make a compromise, other people drop off and want something different.”
“Sounds like Congress,” I laughed. “What happens to the quality of the solution every time you compromise?”
“That’s the real problem. It’s the compromising that kills it. After listening to all the input, I know what we should do and the little compromises just water it down. We might as well junk the whole project because, in this state, it will not do what the customer wants it to do.”
“Whose meeting was that that you just walked out of?” I asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, was it the team’s meeting, or was it your meeting? Let me put it a different way. Who is your boss going to hold accountable for this decision?”
“Oh, I tried that once, blaming a decision on the team. I got the message. My boss is going to hold me accountable for the decision.”
“Then, it wasn’t a team meeting. It was YOUR meeting that the team got invited to. It is your responsibility to listen to the input, and it is also your responsibility, as a manager, to make the decision. And you don’t need agreement, you just need support.”
Adelle had to sit down to think about this one.
The team needs to be informed of the drivers, goals, and the metrics that will be used to measure success – i.e., how THEIR success will be measured.
Everyone’s job reviews should be held to real metrics. They need to begin realizing that when two (or more) options will achieve the same result (as far as the metrics are concerned), then it often doesn’t matter which option is chosen.
Consensus is built around common goals, and unless those are clearly stated, each person will have a different idea of the path to take.
Consensus is a wonderful and human approach to problem solving. If we apply it to enquire about each persons concerns then it will surely help us in deciding which is the proper actions to take. All problems are best solved by the people involved not by any single “hero” figure, thats the real strength of the consensus model. But I’m biased as I’m a citizen in the one country where almost everything in change is secured in a consensus, it’s deeply ingrained in the Swedish problem solving culture. In any consensus relation there is at least two parties and they are forced by the model to act as one, thus there exists no us and them.
Consensus works if everyone agrees on the definition when setting the team norms. Consensus does not mean compromise nor does it mean decision by committee. Rather it is the belief that the collective mind can formulate a better solution than mine alone. I do not have to blindly agree, but if the team decides this is the best solution to meet our desired outcome(s), I will support that solution. In the end, the manager must make the decision on how to proceed and if I am accountable, I want the team’s collective mind to present the best possible solution. For many managers, including myself, this is a change in problem solving and takes some time to adjust and accept.
@Jörgen I totally agree with you