Let’s disagree about consensus

Let’s say your customers, or at least some of them, are demanding certain products or changes to your products. You know your products are not quite what they should be. You want consensus on what changes need to be made.

Internally, your staff and board keep going back and forth. Maybe we need to make some changes, maybe not. If we do make changes, what should those changes be? Should we do it incrementally or do a drastic rebuild? Should be do it now or just hold off? The debate goes on. Time goes on. Your customers keep getting more frustrated. The debate continues. Your staff and board start to take it personally. The subtle and not so subtle name-calling starts. Then your customers get in on the debate and the name-calling.

You’re sitting at the top, with your executive committee, hoping something breaks loose, hoping all the discussion and debate leads to some compromising and rational discussion. You keep sitting, waiting and waiting. You send out memos, urging everyone to keep the goal in mind, to keep working, to reach consensus. You send out more memos, month after month. Every once in a while, you hold large staff meetings where you urge everyone to keep the goal in mind, to keep working, to reach consensus.

You and your executive committee keep waiting. So do your customers.

Whether you’re running a convenience store, an engineering firm, NASA, a hotel or the U. S. government, it’s all the same. At some point, you have to make some tough decisions. As much as I think consensus is important, there are times when you have to take action whether you have consensus or not. Inaction is more dangerous than the lack of consensus. In the end, your customers really don’t give a flying fig whether you had consensus or not. It makes absolutely no difference to them. They just want you to do something, anything. But, you’re waiting on consensus.

My immediate example is health care. I don’t really see any break in the logjam. The Democratic leadership (the President, Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader) can get this approved without the Republicans, but they seem to be stuck trying to appease the Republicans and middle of the road Democrats.

It’s been a year and still no real action on the legislation.

The fact is that the person whose child needs a life-saving medical treatment doesn’t care whether health reform passed by 100 votes or one.

Ask your customers whether they care if you reach consensus on all your decisions. Ask them whether your internal consensus really makes any difference to them as far what products they buy at your convenience store, use your surveyors, use your space shuttle or stay in your hotels. They don’t really care about your internal decision-making process.

They want their services to be better.

They want their child to get the medical treatment they need.

That’s all they care about.