[Dialogue] Consensus Pull-together

[RICHARD HOWIE]

How about a title of SEEKING CONSENSUS AROUND THE GLOBE.
Ellen
On Oct 16, 2007, at 9:57 PM, Jeanette Stanfield wrote:

> Thanks John!  I can see I put my foot in it.  I will have a go as  
> they say here in Australia, but it would
> be great if some others like maybe Paul from UK and one or two from  
> the USA  would work on consensus
> pull together as well !
>
> Meanwhile lets keep all the great reflections going.  Who knows  
> there might be
> a community book in the offing.   Perhaps someone would like to  
> work on a table of contents.
>
> Cheers,
> Jeanette
>
>
> John Cock
>
>> Since I'm the youngest, I'll go first.
>>
>> I think the consensus is that Jeanette of Australia pulls it  
>> together, with a context at the beginning.
>>
>> John
>>
>> From: dialogue-bounces at wedgeblade.net [mailto:dialogue- 
>> bounces at wedgeblade.net] On Behalf Of PSchrijnen at aol.com
>> Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 8:26 AM
>> To: dialogue at wedgeblade.net
>> Subject: [Dialogue] Decision making, consensus
>>
>> Colleagues,
>>
>> here are a few observations:
>>
>> 1. Christine and I have reflected at times about our decision  
>> making as a couple. It seems that the times have been rare that we  
>> actually have come jointly to a decision. The big decisions about  
>> things like children, their schools, where to live, what we do,  
>> have mostly been a decision by one of us. The other was then  
>> invited to support that decision. The decisions worked if they  
>> were based on our con-sensus, our shared mind and heart.
>>
>> 2. The first step in consensus building seems to be the building  
>> of a shared understanding of relevant information. That is hard  
>> given the complexity of sharing information fully and the  
>> difficulty of truly 'getting' what another person says or means.  
>> So often decision making or consensus building is categorised as a  
>> political rather than a cognitive process
>>
>> 3. Effective decision making requires clarity about the roles and  
>> responsibilities of the people involved in the decision making  
>> process. In the Order we left this to implicit understanding of  
>> gifts, talents and commitments. The implicitness avoided awkward  
>> feedback, but didn't prevent a lot of people feeling dis- 
>> enfranchised.
>>
>> 4. I have found it useful to separate three phases in the decision  
>> making process: 1. the divergent phase,  2. the convergent phases,  
>> 3. the naming the decision phase. In the first phase one listens  
>> to the widest possible group, the democratic dynamic. In the  
>> second phase a recommendation is then developed by the experts,  
>> the oligopoly dynamic. The leader then has the job to make the  
>> decision which reflects the broadest set of perspective, the  
>> expert view and the bigger picture, which is represented or  
>> 'defended' by the (symbolic) leader. The Bay of Pigs White House  
>> decision making seems to have followed this process.
>>
>> 5. Written in the constitution of a few (Catholic) European  
>> countries is the procedure that when a bench of judges sits, the  
>> first one to speak is the youngest, or the one with the least  
>> experience. Then the others chip in, and finally the President of  
>> the bench. This idea was first introduced in the Rule of Benedict  
>> in the 6th century. It seems to reflect the 3 phases mentioned in  
>> point 4. The Dutch took this notion out of their constitution. A  
>> sad mistake. The Spanish still have it, as was pointed out to me  
>> by a Spanish judge who stayed with our family to learn English a  
>> few years ago. Does anyone know if the American Supreme Court uses  
>> this process in their decision making?
>>
>> So three keys
>> 1. Structure the process as three steps
>> 2. See the first step as primarily a cognitive process, a process  
>> of shared learning, data gathering. The second and third phase are  
>> primarily political in the best sense of that word.
>> 3.  Decision making and consensus building require role clarity of  
>> those involved in any part of the 3 steps.
>>
>> As Jeanette suggested, who is going to pull all of this together?
>>
>> Paul
>>
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