I don't disagree that many groups could get closer to consensus with better meeting management, but in practice building consensus is often an illusion. I've b

I don't disagree that many groups could get closer to consensus with better meeting management, but in practice building consensus is often an illusion. I've been in organizations where building consensus meant continuing to meet and rehash until the minority group got sick of meeting and stopped arguing. Then we voted and the majority ruled, but there was still no consensus. Massive waste of time. Make your case succinctly, vote, and move on. You win some and you lose some. Problems arise when the minority opinion members can't recognize the possibility that they were perhaps wrong or perhaps not seeing the complete picture. No truly productive debate can ever occur unless both sides are willing to recognize the very real possibility that they are wrong or at least that there are often multiple reasonable ways to solve a problem.