The Delphi Method: What You Should Know. part 3
Now that I have shared in 2 prior postings what the Delphi Method is, it is time to reveal how it is fought. How citizens determined to take back their government can defend against the Delphi. I know that to post the following tactics will reveal them to the practitioners of the Delphi Method that read this blog daily (you know who you are)- that's OK. Our mission here at the Gilford Grok is to empower as many of our fellow Gilford residents as possible with truth and knowledge. We have nothing to hide...
DISRUPTING THE DELPHI
By Lynn M. StuterNote: The Delphi is being used at all levels of government to move meetings to preset conclusions. For the purposes of this dissertation, "facilitator" references anyone who has been trained in use of the Delphi and who is running a meeting.
There are three steps to diffusing the Delphi Technique when facilitators want to steer a group in a specific direction.
1. Always be charming. Smile. Be pleasant. Be Courteous. Moderate your voice so as not to come across as belligerent or aggressive..2. Stay focused. If at all possible, write your question down to help you stay focused. Facilitators, when asked questions they don’t want to answer, often digress from the issue raised and try to work the conversation around to where they can make the individual asking the question look foolish, feel foolish, appear belligerent or aggressive. The goal is to put the one asking the question on the defensive. Do not fall for this tactic. Always be charming, thus deflecting any insinuation. Innuendo, etc. that may be thrown at you in their attempt to put you on the defensive, but bring them back to the question you asked. If they rephrase your question into an accusatory statement (a favorite tactic) simply state, "That is not what I stated. What I asked was... [repeat your question.]" Stay focused on your question..3. Be persistent. If putting you on the defensive doesn't work, facilitators often resort to long, drawn out dissertations on some off-the-wall and usually unrelated or vaguely related subject that drags on for several minutes. During that time, the crowd or group usually loses focus on the question asked (which is the intent). Let them finish with their dissertation or expose. Then nicely with focus and persistence, state, "But you didn't answer my question. My question was...[repeat your question.]"
Now really- how often do you recall the school district's business administrator using this weapon in the Delphi arsenal? You should be familiar with the routine, if you pay attention as I usually do. When he is done with his dissertation, the effect is generally the same as if some kind of sleeping gas had been released into the room- leaving the audience in a near stupor- the question all but forgotten.
Always be charming, stay focused and be persistent. Never, under any circumstance, become angry. Anger directed at the facilitator will immediately make the facilitator the victim. This defeats the purpose which is to make you the victim..The goal of the facilitator is to make those they are facilitating like them, alienating anyone who might pose a threat to the realization of their agenda. [People with fixed belief systems, who know what they believe and stand on what they believe are obvious threats.] If the participant becomes the victim, the facilitator loses face and favor with the crowd..This is why crowds are broken up into groups of seven or eight, why objections are written on cards, not voiced aloud where they are open to public discussion and public debate. It s called crowd control.
Or, as is often the case here in Gilford, we hear that familiar refrain: "Why don't you come see me in my office to discuss this..." What better way to squelch any public airing of an issue? Dittoes for the old favorite of the Town Administrator- SUBCOMMITTEES.
.It is always good to have someone else, or two or three others who know the Delphi Technique dispersed through the crowd; who, when the facilitator digresses from the question. will stand up and say nicely, "But you didn't answer that lady (/gentleman)'s question.”.The facilitator, even if suspecting you are together, certainly will not want to alienate the crowd by making that accusation. Sometimes it only takes one occurrence of this type for the crowd to figure out what s going on. Sometimes it takes more than one...
If you have an organized group:.
meet before the meeting to strategize. Everyone should know his or her part. Meet after the meeting to analyze what went right, what went wrong and why, and what needs to happen the next time around..Never meet during the meeting. One of the favorite tactics of the facilitator, if the meeting is not going the way they want or if they are meeting measurable resistance, is to call a recess. During the recess, the facilitator and his/her spotters (people who wander the room during the course of the meeting, watching the crowd) watch the crowd to see who congregates where, especially those who have offered measurable resistance. If the resistors congregate in one place, a spotter will usually gravitate to that group to join in the conversation and will report back to the facilitator. When the meeting resumes, the facilitator will steer clear of those who are resistors..Do not congregate. Hang loose and work the crowd. Move to where the facilitators or spotters are. Listen to what they have to say, but do not gravitate to where another member of your team is..This strategy also works in a face to face, one on one, meeting with anyone who has been trained in how to use the Delphi Technique.
Hopefully those who have read this series on the Delphi will now be able recognize the tactic and will be ready to defend against its use. Those who sit on the various boards and committees that actually care about how our tax dollars are spent will find themselves well-armed by remembering the Delphi Method as outlined in these posts. I know I will... Read part one here. Read part 2 here.
