--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Consensus is horrible. I mean, if…" description: "\"“Consensus is horrible. I mean, if everyone really agrees on something and consensus comes about quickly and naturally, well that’s terrific. But that ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/475/jossey-bass-51677_quote_consensus-is-horrible-i-mean-if-everyone_1316913.jpg" --- # Consensus is horrible. I mean, if everyone really agrees… ![“Consensus is horrible. I mean, if everyone really agrees on something and consensus comes about quickly and naturally, well that’s terrific. But that isn’t how it usually works, and so consensus becomes an attempt to please everyone.” “Which usually” quote by Jossey-Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/475/jossey-bass-51677_quote_consensus-is-horrible-i-mean-if-everyone_1316913.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/475/jossey-bass-51677_quote_consensus-is-horrible-i-mean-if-everyone_1316913.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/475/jossey-bass-51677_quote_consensus-is-horrible-i-mean-if-everyone_1316913.jpg) > ““Consensus is horrible. I mean, if everyone really agrees on something and consensus comes about quickly and naturally, well that’s terrific. But that isn’t how it usually works, and so consensus becomes an attempt to please everyone.” “Which usually”” [Jossey-Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jossey-bass/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Consensus often masks hidden dissent and can lead to superficial agreement rather than genuine alignment. **In simple terms:** Consensus can hide true disagreements. Key Takeaway Seek authentic dialogue over quick agreement. Themes communication decision‑making group dynamics Mood cautious analytical Type strategic critical When to use this quote - team meetings - policy drafting - community planning Key Concepts social conformity pluralism Questions to Reflect On - How can you surface dissenting voices constructively? - When is consensus truly beneficial? A Different Perspective Consensus may suppress minority insights, reducing innovation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Consensus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consensus/) ## Related quotes > [“Consensus is horrible. I mean, if everyone really agrees on something and consensus comes about quickly and naturally, well that’s terrific. But that isn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jossey-bass/consensus-is-horrible-i-mean-if-everyone-really-agrees-on-something-2/) [Jossey-Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jossey-bass/) > [There are dangers in consensus: it could be an attempt to satisfy people holding no particular views about anything. ... No great party can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/there-are-dangers-in-consensus-it-could-be-an-attempt-to-satisfy/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [As a leader... I have always endeavored to listen to what each and every person in a discussion had to say before venturing my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/as-a-leader-i-have-always-endeavored-to-listen-to-what-each-and-every/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [“But perhaps the greatest threat is that we lack the mechanism of consensus, a way of making up our collective minds.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-k-greenleaf/but-perhaps-the-greatest-threat-is-that-we-lack-the-mechanism-of/) [Robert K. Greenleaf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-k-greenleaf/) > [I always worked as an individual artist even when Group Material asked me to join the group. There are certain things that I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-gonzalez-torres/i-always-worked-as-an-individual-artist-even-when-group-material/) Felix Gonzalez-Torres > [Our normal expectations about reality are created by a social consensus. We are taught how to see and understand the world. The trick of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/our-normal-expectations-about-reality-are-created-by-a-social/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [That tertiary education is under a sustained assault by a political and - it often seems - social consensus that equates all education with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/that-tertiary-education-is-under-a-sustained-assault-by-a-political/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [We are in a crisis today because the practical consensus between the left and the right, linking economic efficiency with social protection, has broken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-glucksmann/we-are-in-a-crisis-today-because-the-practical-consensus-between-the/) Andre Glucksmann > [The culturally, linguistically and religiously diverse population of Indian and Pakistani-administered Jammu and Kashmir has been unable to reach a consensus on the future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nyla-ali-khan/the-culturally-linguistically-and-religiously-diverse-population-of/) [Nyla Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nyla-ali-khan/) > [The "family" has clearly emerged anew in the late 1970s as a central subject for discussion, debate, research and writing in bothscholarly and popular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-kamerman/the-family-has-clearly-emerged-anew-in-the-late-1970s-as-a-central/) Sheila Kamerman > [Effectively, change is almost impossible without industry-wide collaboration, cooperation and consensus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-mainwaring/effectively-change-is-almost-impossible-without-industry-wide/) [Simon Mainwaring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-mainwaring/) > [People of good character are not all going to come down on the same side of difficult political and social issues. Good people-people of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bennett/people-of-good-character-are-not-all-going-to-come-down-on-the-same/) [William Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bennett/) > [The scientific consensus is that climate change is real, urgent, and caused by humans. This science should be both supported and understood by anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-schatz/the-scientific-consensus-is-that-climate-change-is-real-urgent-and/) [Brian Schatz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-schatz/) > [The vision of extraordinary achievement is,by definition, a few steps beyond consensus and conventional logic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-belsky/the-vision-of-extraordinary-achievement-is-by-definition-a-few-steps/) [Scott Belsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-belsky/) > [Those who know that the consensus of many centuries has sanctioned the conception that the earth remains at rest in the middle of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolaus-copernicus/those-who-know-that-the-consensus-of-many-centuries-has-sanctioned/) [Nicolaus Copernicus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolaus-copernicus/) ## More by Jossey-Bass > [“Well, some teams get paralyzed by their need for complete agreement, and their inability to move beyond debate.” JR spoke up. “Disagree and commit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jossey-bass/well-some-teams-get-paralyzed-by-their-need-for-complete-agreement/) [Jossey-Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jossey-bass/) > [“No one seemed ready to offer an answer, so Kathryn quickly provided it for them. Just above absence of trust she wrote fear of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jossey-bass/no-one-seemed-ready-to-offer-an-answer-so-kathryn-quickly-provided-it/) [Jossey-Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jossey-bass/) > [“The next dysfunction of a team is the lack of commitment and the failure to buy in to decisions.” She wrote the dysfunction above…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jossey-bass/the-next-dysfunction-of-a-team-is-the-lack-of-commitment-and-the/) [Jossey-Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jossey-bass/) > [“If you really think about it, meetings should be at least as interesting as movies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jossey-bass/if-you-really-think-about-it-meetings-should-be-at-least-as/) [Jossey-Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jossey-bass/) > [“She explained. “Once we achieve clarity and buy-in, it is then that we have to hold each other accountable for what we sign up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jossey-bass/she-explained-once-we-achieve-clarity-and-buy-in-it-is-then-that-we/) [Jossey-Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jossey-bass/) > [“Consensus is horrible. I mean, if everyone really agrees on something and consensus comes about quickly and naturally, well that’s terrific. But that isn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jossey-bass/consensus-is-horrible-i-mean-if-everyone-really-agrees-on-something-2/) [Jossey-Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jossey-bass/) [Explore all 7 Jossey-Bass quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jossey-bass/) ## More Consensus quotes > [There are dangers in consensus: it could be an attempt to satisfy people holding no particular views about anything. ... No great party can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/there-are-dangers-in-consensus-it-could-be-an-attempt-to-satisfy/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [The "family" has clearly emerged anew in the late 1970s as a central subject for discussion, debate, research and writing in bothscholarly and popular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-kamerman/the-family-has-clearly-emerged-anew-in-the-late-1970s-as-a-central/) Sheila Kamerman > [As a leader... I have always endeavored to listen to what each and every person in a discussion had to say before venturing my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/as-a-leader-i-have-always-endeavored-to-listen-to-what-each-and-every/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [The vision of extraordinary achievement is,by definition, a few steps beyond consensus and conventional logic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-belsky/the-vision-of-extraordinary-achievement-is-by-definition-a-few-steps/) [Scott Belsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-belsky/) > [The scientific consensus is that climate change is real, urgent, and caused by humans. This science should be both supported and understood by anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-schatz/the-scientific-consensus-is-that-climate-change-is-real-urgent-and/) [Brian Schatz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-schatz/) > [People of good character are not all going to come down on the same side of difficult political and social issues. Good people-people of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bennett/people-of-good-character-are-not-all-going-to-come-down-on-the-same/) [William Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bennett/) > [Effectively, change is almost impossible without industry-wide collaboration, cooperation and consensus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-mainwaring/effectively-change-is-almost-impossible-without-industry-wide/) [Simon Mainwaring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-mainwaring/) > [Those who know that the consensus of many centuries has sanctioned the conception that the earth remains at rest in the middle of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolaus-copernicus/those-who-know-that-the-consensus-of-many-centuries-has-sanctioned/) [Nicolaus Copernicus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolaus-copernicus/) > [The culturally, linguistically and religiously diverse population of Indian and Pakistani-administered Jammu and Kashmir has been unable to reach a consensus on the future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nyla-ali-khan/the-culturally-linguistically-and-religiously-diverse-population-of/) [Nyla Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nyla-ali-khan/) > [We are in a crisis today because the practical consensus between the left and the right, linking economic efficiency with social protection, has broken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-glucksmann/we-are-in-a-crisis-today-because-the-practical-consensus-between-the/) Andre Glucksmann > [That tertiary education is under a sustained assault by a political and - it often seems - social consensus that equates all education with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/that-tertiary-education-is-under-a-sustained-assault-by-a-political/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [Our normal expectations about reality are created by a social consensus. We are taught how to see and understand the world. The trick of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/our-normal-expectations-about-reality-are-created-by-a-social/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [I always worked as an individual artist even when Group Material asked me to join the group. There are certain things that I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-gonzalez-torres/i-always-worked-as-an-individual-artist-even-when-group-material/) Felix Gonzalez-Torres > [“But perhaps the greatest threat is that we lack the mechanism of consensus, a way of making up our collective minds.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-k-greenleaf/but-perhaps-the-greatest-threat-is-that-we-lack-the-mechanism-of/) [Robert K. Greenleaf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-k-greenleaf/) > [There's a growing consensus that the best way to defeat communism in Cuba is to get its citizens hooked on American goods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-noah/there-s-a-growing-consensus-that-the-best-way-to-defeat-communism-in/) [Timothy Noah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-noah/) [Browse all 564 Consensus quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consensus/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Consensus is horrible. I mean, if everyone really agrees on something and consensus comes about quickly and naturally, well that’s terrific. 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