Clues to Achieving Consensus: A Leader's Guide to Navigating Collaborative Problem Solving
By Mirja P. Hanson, EdD
Published by Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2006
ISBN: 1578862701

Clues to Achieving Consensus summarizes the experience of hundreds of problem-solving efforts in order to shed light on the do’s and don’ts of effective consensus building and provides an insider’s view of how consensus actually happens as opposed to how it should happen.

Clues to Achieving Consensus assumes that successful group decision-making requires more than the right technique or a charismatic facilitator. Methods make a difference, but effective outcomes depend on three key players that have a make or break role in assuring consensus success:

• Sponsors convene consensus processes and link them to mainstream decision making.
• Facilitators design and deliver a fair and rigorous forum for shaping common will, and
• Participants engineer consensus solutions across diverse needs, beliefs, and power bases.

The book, written by IAF member and Past Chair, Mirja Hanson, offers clues to sponsors that want results, participants that don’t like to waste time, and facilitators who want to fulfill the wishes of leaders and participants in order to enable schools, agencies, companies, organizations, communities, and partnerships move forward:

• Chapter 1 overviews consensus definitions, trends, pitfalls and the ways it differs from other types of decision making.
• Chapter 2 features the major benefits of consensus building backed by live examples.
• Chapter 3 describes the politics of the consensus processes and the informal activity that is often more influential than the formal process at the table.
• Chapters 4-6 offer specific clues for sponsors, facilitators, and participants. The expertise of consensus veterans presents a convincing case for adopting consensus building as a tool of choice for enhancing communities and organizations.

Further information, visit... ... http://www.mirjaphanson.com