Consent decision-making
Instead of 'does everyone agree?', ask 'can you live with this? Any objections?' — the core tool for bold, inclusive decisions.
What it is
Consent decision-making is the core tool for the Bold principle. Instead of asking "does everyone agree?", you ask: "Can you live with this? Any objections?" A proposal passes when no one has a paramount objection — good enough for now, safe enough to try.
It runs as a simple six-step process. Once a team has practised it, a decision takes about five minutes — the speed comes from the structure.
Why it works
Consent makes an organisation:
- Decisive — decisions happen faster, because you're checking for blockers rather than waiting for full buy-in.
- Bold — the bar for proposing an idea drops; you don't need to convince everyone, just avoid harm.
- Inclusive — objections aren't obstacles, they're information that strengthens the proposal.
The question that changes everything is not "is this the perfect solution?" but "is this safe enough to try?"
Agree the process before you need it
Decide, in calm times, how this will work: who gets to be in the room, what counts as a valid objection, and how you'll handle urgency. The process you agree in calm times is the process you'll use in turbulent ones.
A reflection
What decision are we currently avoiding because the way we'd have to make it feels too hard?
Go deeper
By Organisational Resilience programme