the innovative LEDGER
An e-Newsletter from The Innovative Edge™ Inc.

  Vol. 4, No. 3, Fall 2004
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Can We All Agree on Something? Consensus Has its Limits

By Jeffrey Govendo

Perhaps you don’t agree with the premise of my title. Yet I believe it wholeheartedly. Maybe if we worked on it long enough, we could find some middle ground. We’d add some words or change the phrasing, and probably end up agreeing on a statement such as “Consensus has its strong points and also some weaknesses; instances where it works well, others where it doesn’t..." And so on, and so on…

Coming from someone who has written quite a few articles – some for this very newsletter – on the importance of group participation in the innovation process, the suggestion that consensus might not be the best way to go may seem a bit surprising. In a meeting to decide upon a certain course of action – a company’s strategic initiative, for example – wouldn’t it be desirable for everyone to be able to give a resounding “YES!” to the outcome? The answer, of course, is “YES!” But I’ve seen too many consensus-seeking meetings where the “yes” is a lot less resounding; in fact, it sounds more like “Alright already, let’s get on with it.”

Consensus involves compromise. Compromise is all about finding the middle ground. Very important in diplomacy and politics (in fact, there’s a major shortage of it in politics these days, but that’s another story), but when trying to come up with decisions that are bold and creative; i.e., initiatives that break new ground, consensus can have a diluting effect. Innovation does not live in the middle ground; it lives at the edges. Consensus-building is a process of moving inward from the edges to make everyone (or, almost everyone) happy (or, sort of happy). In the process, those edges tend to smooth out. Whatever made the idea under consideration exciting, intriguing – even quirky – gets muted as it tries to become all things to all people. By the time consensus is reached, a fancy pastry is turned into white bread. Is this always the case? No. But the more people involved in making a final decision, the more likely such a scenario will play out.

The alternative to group consensus, of course, is one person or a very small group (say, 2 or 3) deciding upon which ideas or courses of action to go with at key decision points. The big question is: will people buy in if those decisions are not made by the entire group? I believe they will in most cases, if the following conditions have been met:

a) The decision-maker is a trusted individual whose “ownership” is understood and agreed upon from the beginning. This ownership may be by virtue of his/her position in the organization, expertise in the subject area, or even passion around the initiative.
b) The process of generating and developing ideas is truly inclusive, and the decision-maker has displayed genuine open-mindedness to new ideas and possibilities. People are willing to forgo the often painful process of trying to reach consensus if they’ve participated openly and creatively in offering ideas from which a final decision will be made.

Besides achieving more innovative results, this model offers an additional advantage: meetings which are shorter and more efficient.

Now there’s a benefit we can all agree on!

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5 Tips for Getting the Most from Your Company Outing

With summer vacations over and lots of nice fall weather ahead, you may be thinking about a creative outdoor experience for your employees. Here are 5 tips for getting the most for your time and money spent:

1. Before you choose a program, decide on the desired outcomes. Should the major focus be on teamwork? Creative problem-solving? Leadership skills? Determining this beforehand will help you decide which program to choose, and what should be stressed in the de-brief.
2. Have a skilled, impartial facilitator conduct a thorough de-brief. An experienced facilitator, whether from the outside or from your own HR division, will be able to draw out insights to maximize learning. Most importantly, the facilitator should NOT be the boss. This would inhibit responses and undermine the value of the de-brief.
3. Probe for connections back to the workplace. The facilitator should ask for specific examples of where lessons learned "in the field" can be applied at work.
4. Capture all key learning points. Create a permanent record, not only of the experience itself, but the key insights gained from it. Make it available to all who took part. This demonstrates the value placed on people's thoughtful comments, and also becomes a tool to assist in follow-up.
5. Follow up after the event is over. Even with a well-managed de-brief, it is too much to expect a "one-shot" event to produce lasting changes. Plan for some follow-up discussions while the outing is still fairly recent, and for an ongoing period afterward. The whole point is to encourage the integration of key insights into everyday behavior.

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Names We Like

We're always on the lookout for creative business or product names. If you know of any good ones, send them along! You may see them in an upcoming issue!