Definition [1]:
consensus
n : agreement in the judgment or opinion reached by a group as a whole; “the lack of consensus reflected differences in theoretical positions”; “those rights and obligations are based on an unstated consensus”
Implicit in the definition of the word is that the participants in the consensus have an opinion in the first place: “The process of achieving consensus involves serious treatment of every group member’s considered opinion. [2]”
I have observed that consensus fails when people come to the table without an opinion to contribute, expecting to discover one in the process.
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