There are many different ways or styles of decision making, ranging from very centralized authoritarian styles to what we are going to discuss in this knowledge centre—consultative decision making.  

There is a difference between consultation per se and consultative decision making. The use of the term “consultation” alone can be confusing. Often the first listed meaning of this word is a formal meeting with a doctor for discussion or the seeking of advice. But consultation is also defined as the act of consulting or conferring, where consulting has the general meaning “to deliberate together.”  This is accurate, but wholly inadequate to describe the paradigm shift that is required to use this decision-making methodology in teams and companies.

The term “consensus decision making” is an accurate term which is effectively synonymous with “consultative decision making.” Consensus is defined as a “general agreement” or “group solidarity in sentiment and belief.” Consensus decision-making is a decision-making process that not only seeks the agreement of most participants, but also to resolve or mitigate the objections of the minority to achieve the most agreeable decision.   

What is more important than terminology is to be clear about the distinction between this decision making style, and others. And of course to understand the advantages of consultative decision making and why this would represent a paradigm shift for many corporations and organizations, and why the effort to master this technique will yield rich rewards and enhance competitiveness.

It is axiomatic that managers are interested in good decision making and are thus committed (or should be committed) to put good decision making processes in place. There are different decision making models, and each model has different processes and different approaches used by a group to make the decision.

Unanimity,	where everyone must agree on a given course of action;
Majority,	which requires support from more than 50% of the members of the group but implicitly includes a group of "losers" or those that do not support the decision and can actively work against its implementation;
Consensus decision-making,	as defined above, tries to avoid "winners" and "losers";
Plurality,	where the largest block in a group decides, even if it falls short of a majority;
Dictatorship,	where one individual determines the course of action.

With the exception of “dictatorship,” which falls under the “authoritative” management or leadership style, all of the other models with the exception of consultative and consensus decision making are models based on voting. Voting is a means by which we choose one alternative from several. Consensus, on the other hand, is a process of synthesizing many diverse elements together. Without an understanding of this distinction, it is impossible to implement a consultative decision making style and utilize the advantages implicit in this paradigm shift.

Thus the paradigm shift is focused on building and reinforcing team unity and solidarity, and the conscious decision on the part of the participants to be involved in a creative and synergistic process that is not attached to any individual ego.

The mastery of consultative decision making requires effort, but the results are worth it. Collective intelligence creates better solutions than could individuals. The process facilitates creative decisions as a result of group synergy. And, finally, there is more group ownership and commitment to the decision, and thus implementation is improved. “Perhaps there are no perfect decisions but many good decisions are not implemented because they are not supported by those most directly affected.”


¹ Other reference to this style of decision making include “participatory decision making,” “team or group decision-making,” “integrative decision making,” and “shared decision making.”
² Merriam-Webster, www.m-w.com/home.htm
³ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consensus decision making
⁴ William O. Walker, The Role Of Business In Enhancing The Prosperity Of Humankind , (EBBF)

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