A consensus means that everyone agrees to say collectively what no one believes individually.

The more the process of development becomes familiar and a mere matter of calculation to all concerned, and the weaker the obstacles become in the course of time, the less the “leadership” that will be needed to call forth innovations. Hence the less pronounced will become the swarm-like appearance of entrepreneurs and the milder the cyclical movement.

consensus fallacy — the idea that if many people believe something, some position, or some ideology, it must be true.

In any great organization it is far, far safer to be wrong with the majority than to be right alone.

Consensus is the process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values and policies in search of something in which no one believes, but to which no one objects. - Margaret Thatcher.

Effective executives, finally, make effective decisions

’Tis slight, not strength, that gives the greatest lift.

Despite many people being involved in the process, the ultimate decision should be made solo. Only the CEO has comprehensive knowledge of the criteria, the rationale for the criteria, all of the feedback from interviewers and references, and the relative importance of the various stakeholders. Consensus decisions about executives almost always sway the process away from strength and toward lack of weakness.

You can ignore your weaknesses, but you can't expect them to not impact you. The weakness of the coach shapes the players. The weakness of the teacher influences the students. The weakness of the parent molds the child.

In this Court dissents have gradually become majority opinions.

Success is usually the exploitation of a weakness.

Consensus is built, sometimes very rapidly, by cutting in many and diverse interests.

Most organizations prefer consensus and harmony over dissent and conflict. The procedures in place often seem expressly designed to minimize the frequency of exposure to actual disagreements and, when such disagreements happen, to explain them away.

Nearly all legislation is the result of compromise.