Consensus Resources

What is consensus?
Consensus is a cooperative decision-making process in which the input of every group member is carefully considered and there is a good faith effort to form a solution that addresses all legitimate concerns. A group reaches consensus agreement when every member declares: "I believe that this is the best decision we can arrive at for the organization at this time and I will actively support its implementation."

Who uses consensus?
Consensus has been widely used as a means of arriving at unified decisions on topics ranging from corporate strategy to public policy. All kinds of organizations use consensus to make decisions, including Saturn Motor Corporation, Levi Strauss & Company, and the US Army.

Do I need to be a professional facilitator to use Consensus Cards?
With a little practice, anyone can learn to use Consensus Cards to create a more focused, collaborative, creative decision-making process. If you are just learning, we recommend the Consensus Through Conversation: How to Achieve High-commitment Decisions.

How many sets of cards do I need? Every deciding member of the group needs to have a set of cards. The Consensus Cards come in sets of 10, enough for a group of 10 people.

Do I need the Consensus Pocket Guide to use the cards? No. If you are an experience process facilitator, the mini instruction booklet will suffice. However, if you are just learning (or teaching) the art of consensus-based decision making, Consensus Through Conversation is invaluable.