The Delphi Technique

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[namaste]

I wonder if any of you are familiar with the Delphi Technique and/or have witnessed it in action at gcm churches.  If you're unfamiliar, a cursory google search will reveal information.

The Delphi was originally a tool for group consensus building.  It was later hijacked by groups (particularly local school boards) and used dubiously to systematically destroy opposition and give the appearance of having sought public input (and give legitimacy to a course of action) when the decision in question was already made long before any such meeting.

You can read about it, but I recall *many* times in our church where the technique was used.  Here's an example of about how it would go:

-Issue that may be divisive occurs.

-Pastor decides to use a previously arranged meeting to discuss it (generally without informing members who show up unaware that they're about to be bamboozled).

-Individuals known to be antagonistic to pastor's goals are conveniently made unavailable for the meeting (asked to dinner by someone else, needed for evangelism efforts elsewhere, etc.).

-Pastor preaches to the group on the issue, being sure to make anyone who is against his personal point of view appear sinful.  On a dating issue, for example, the pastor would go on and on and on about his "no dating" method being the best, harp on the dangers of dating unreasonably, and then talk about the sinful nature of dating.  Keep in mind, the meeting in question was represented to be an open dialogue about dating (or coming up with a "church policy" on dating).

-But the end of this, most opposition is neutralized.  There is usually a break afterwards...snacks, meal, whatever.  At this time, anyone who asked questions during the "discussion" that were considered against the pastor, was conveniently removed from further participation.  They were asked to help clean up the meal, put flyers around campus, etc.

-After the meal, we were broken into small groups to discuss the pastor's talk, give feedback, suggestions, reactions, etc.  We'd write them down, and give them to the pastor.  No one ever knew what the other groups thought.  

In the end, it appeared that input was being sought.  But it obviously wasn't.  In our church, I saw this technique used to give legitimacy to the pastor's view on dating and subsequent insistance that everyone follow it (even though gcm has repeatedly said on the record that it has no dating policy and pastors should be careful about this issue), get rid of members, decide on outreach efforts, and bully members into giving more money to the church.

Anyone else observe this in their gcm churches???  You think they're actually aware of the Delphi and utilize it....or is this another one of their acceptable applications of authority?

[jehu]

It also seems like that roughly mirrors discipleship team meetings.  That is quite perceptive.  Where did the Delphi technique originate?

[namaste]

wikipedia article on the delphi:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphi_method

The Delphi method was developed, over a period of years, at the Rand Corporation at the beginning of the cold war to forecast the impact of technology on warfare.  A number of events influenced the development.

This is an excellent article discussing unethical applications of the Delphi; a linked article discusses how to beat the Delphi:

http://www.learn-usa.com/transformation_process/acf001.htm

[GCCKiddo]

wikipedia article on the delphi:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphi_method

The Delphi method was developed, over a period of years, at the Rand Corporation at the beginning of the cold war to forecast the impact of technology on warfare.  A number of events influenced the development.

This is an excellent article discussing unethical applications of the Delphi; a linked article discusses how to beat the Delphi:

http://www.learn-usa.com/transformation_process/acf001.htm

OK, there are two different Delphi methods being discussed here.  I'm not familiar with the dissension-breaking version listed by the original poster or referenced by the learn-usa article (which are apparently one and the same), but the Wikipedia article posted above has nothing to do with decreasing dissension.  

The Delphi method is actually a very widely-used subjective form of business forecasting.  Marketing and business forecasting professionals use it regularly to make sales projections and the like.  

Here's how it works:  A panel of experts is called upon to anonymously provide their input on an issue.  This usually takes place over mail, email, or in some other forum where the respondents are not in the same room.  Debate can thus ensue through multiple rounds of submissions and responses.

The point of using it is to ensure a more fair representation of all expert opinions than one would receive if all experts were sitting in the same room.  In such a format (commonly referred to as a "Jury of Executive Opinion"), participants with strong personalities can overpower quieter or less argumentative individuals.

Ironically, this Delphi method has the exact opposite intended effect as the one mentioned by the original poster.  Instead of manipulating group opinion, it elevates minority points of view and gives them greater voice, allowing open criticism and fair discussion where it might not otherwise be possible.



GCCKiddo

[namaste]

GCCKiddo-
They're the same technique, though the application I described twists the process you described (group consensus building among experts) into something other than what the creators intended.

Somewhere along the way, someone realized that you could use the 2-round consensus-building process you described in order to make it appear that public input was given/received and consensus was reached when, in fact, the outcome was pre-determined before the meeting ever began.

From a sociological/psychological perspective, it's fascinating.  Since you appear to be familiar with the Delphi in its intended form, I'd encourage you to research the applications frequently used/abused by public officials today.  Delphi facilitators are highly trained, highly sought after professionals (for nefarious purposes, can't speak to whether they're widely used legitimately) and there are tons of books, etc. written to that market.

I city I've lived in actually had a trained Delphi facilitator on staff.  She was/is the public information officer for that municipality.  How ironic is that?

[jehu]

At this point I think we should break down into discussion groups.  Just kidding.

[namaste]

At this point I think we should break down into discussion groups.  Just kidding.

Okay, that REALLY cracked me up.  :lol: