Getting everyone to say yes in a meeting doesn’t mean you have agreement, it means you have a bunch of bobbleheads. Many leaders strive for “consensus-driven” decisions, but they fundamentally misunderstand the meaning of consensus. For those of you who skipped Latin, it stems from the Latin cum, meaning “together with,” and sentire, meaning “to think or feel,” so it literally means “to think or feel together.” Note that this implies nothing about unanimity; consensus is not about getting everyone to agree. Instead, it’s about coming to the best idea for the company and rallying around it.
