Consensus vs Consent, in problem solving workshops

Or "Why can't we all just agree for a change?"

Most professional workshops that I run, or that other people run, are based on making decisions based on consent rather than consensus.

Decision making based on consent is what most people are familiar with. Essentially, a team will discuss a problem, look at a bunch of solutions and maybe individually give their opinions. At some point - the person in charge (“the decider” in workshop terms) decides which option to go for. Everyone else, whether or not they believe it is the “best” solution, gives their consent to the solution.

Decision making based on consensus is a bit different and most people will have never experienced it. A team of people will discuss a problem, look at a bunch of solutions and will also individually give their opinions. At some point everyone will be asked if they agree with a proposed solution. There is no single person in charge so, in order to make a decision, everyone has to agree to the same solution. This means that the team has to keep adjusting the proposed solution until everyone is happy with it. While it could be true that the chosen solution wasn’t the preferred solution of some of the individuals, ALL members of the group were willing to get behind the solution they did choose. In my opinion thats they key difference and the best thing about consensus based decision making.

The approach emphasises the importance of mutual respect and understanding, and requires participants to actively listen to each other's views and concerns. In the 1960s and 1970s, consensus-based decision making became popular among various social movements, including the feminist and anti-nuclear movements. Today you can find it being used in places with a genuine flat hierarchy; particularly grass roots, activist organisations with social causes. These groups use consensus-based decision making to ensure that everyone's voice is heard and to avoid hierarchies and power imbalances.

Sounds great right? Well, it can be. However as with everything, there are pros and cons. I’ll highlight a couple from either side of the fence.

Pros

1. Everyone is willing to get behind the chosen solution

This is the big, fat, number one pro for consensus based decision making. In most organisations when a decision is made there are usually a few people who don’t agree. It is not so unusual to find people who are not enthusiastic about the chosen solution, who are waiting for a solution to fail or who can’t wait to tell you that their idea would have been better. Consensus based decision making helps to remove this because everyone agreed to get behind the chosen solution. You see the impact of this when it comes time to execute the solution. There is a greater sense of ownership and buy-in from ALL participants, which can lead to greater commitment and motivation to implement the decision.

2. It respects individual voices and promotes equity

Consensus-based decision making ensures that all voices are heard and valued, and promotes equity by giving equal weight to the opinions and concerns of ALL participants. Everyone has the right to veto an idea and the group will work together to address the concerns raised in order to reach an acceptable solution.

Cons

1. It can be time consuming. Really time consuming.

You can’t time-box it. You can hope to reach a decision in the time specified but you cannot expect that to happen. At a certain point in a “normal” meeting, when a decision cannot be reached, “the decider” will choose a solution to move forward with, even if everyone is not in agreement. This means meetings can end at a given time. With consensus based decision making you need to keep proposing new solutions until EVERYONE agrees. This can take time. Lots of time.

2. You don’t go for the “best” solution

This is often the accusation thrown at consensus based decision making and there could be some truth in it although I personally don’t agree with it. Making decisions in this way is not about reaching the “best” solution. It is very much about reaching a solution that everyone can get behind. So sure, maybe it doesn’t always produce the “best” solution. However, can you really say that decision making based on consent does? What is the “best” solution anyway? Really what people mean when they say this, is that they would have personally preferred a different solution. Almost everywhere I have worked makes decision based on consent and they have all come up with some terrible ideas - some of those ideas were mine!

Summary

In my experience I’ve seen consensus based decision making produce some incredible results. It certainly has it downsides but overall I’ve been impressed with what it can achieve and the sense of ownership it can inspire within teams.

How does it actually work?

For those of you interested, I would recommend trying out consensus based decision making yourself. Maybe for a small project or a fun team building exercise so that you can assess the pros and cons of this way of working.

You can find resources online to help you run a session:

https://www.seedsforchange.org.uk/shortconsensus

Or you can reach out to me and I can help. If there is enough interest I will publish a guide on how to run a session.