Consensus can suck a nut

Sitting in meetings, I seem to be relegated to a singular train of thought.

This meeting is about “x”
“x” is important, hence the meeting
We need to make a decision about “x”
Talk generates action items about “x”
Meeting ends with schedule for meeting about action items in regard to “x”
“x” is still ultimately unresolved

The ideal meeting should be two people. The stakeholder and the control. The stakeholder is the one with the problem, the control is the one that can approve action on the problem, thereby allowing the stakeholder to solve the problem.

None of my meetings are like that.

They all involve at least 5 people. Five opinions. Five viewpoints. Five brains to misconstrue information and introduce error into the communication process. And generally one of those five is not acting in the role of a control.

Leaving it all to consensus.

Consensus inevitably leads to more meetings… about consensus.

Why is it so damn hard to get decisions made?

Seriously.