A Simple Guide to
Consensus Decision-making
from an article by Cathleen Kneen,
The Ram?s Horn, No 138, June 1996
. . . there are essentially four positions on any proposition:
- 1) I think this is great, let's do it.
- 2) It's not a bad idea, do it if you like.
- 3) I don't think much of the idea but I won't stop you if you want to go ahead.
- 4) I think this is absolutely wrong.
. . . . if any one person in the group takes position 4 - "I think this is wrong" - we have not reached consensus.
(Of course, if one person consistently and repeatedly takes this position, we have probably reached a consensus that they are in the wrong organization.)
We have also not reached consensus unless the majority of the group take position 1 and positively support the proposal. Otherwise, realistically, it won't happen anyway.
Last Modified: September 23, 2014