Censored message: The "Delphi Technique" used by US Congressman
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FreedomOfSpeechNow/message/103
If you recently attended the meeting held by Congressman Joe Wilson,
or if you plan to attend other such meetings,
you will benefit from a study of The "Delphi Technique".
Attendees were told to write their questions on a card and pass them to the
front.
The "facilitator" could be SEEN shuffling through the cards,
PICKING OUT THE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS THAT WOULD BE HEARD.
Anyone who spoke was silenced with the admonition to
"write their questions on a card and pass them to the front."
Most of those silenced, in this manner, had ALREADY
written their questions on a card and passed them to the front,
but were frustrated THAT THE QUESTIONS WERE IGNORED.
VISIT:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22Delphi+Technique%22&btnG=Google+Search
http://www.eagleforum.org/educate/1998/nov98/focus.html
Using the Delphi Technique to Achieve Consensus
How it is leading us away from representative government to an illusion of
citizen participation
The Delphi Technique and
consensus building are both founded in the same principle - the Hegelian
dialectic of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis, with synthesis becoming the new
thesis. The goal is a continual evolution to "oneness of mind" (consensus means
solidarity of belief) -the collective mind, the wholistic society, the
wholistic earth, etc. In thesis and antithesis, opinions or views are presented
on a subject to establish views and opposing views. In synthesis, opposites are
brought together to form the new thesis. All participants in the process are
then to accept ownership of the new thesis and support it, changing their views
to align with the new thesis. Through a continual process of evolution,
"oneness of mind" will supposedly occur. In group settings, the Delphi
Technique is an unethical method of achieving consensus on controversial
topics. It requires well-trained professionals, known as "facilitators" or
"change agents," who deliberately escalate tension among group members,
pitting one faction against another to make a preordained viewpoint appear
"sensible," while making opposing views appear ridiculous. In her book
Educating for the New World Order, author and educator Beverly Eakman makes
numerous references to the need of those in power to preserve the illusion that
there is "community participation in decision-making processes, while in fact
lay citizens are being squeezed out." The setting or type of group is
immaterial for the success of the technique. The point is that, when people are
in groups that tend to share a particular knowledge base, they display certain
identifiable characteristics, known as group dynamics, which allows the
facilitator to apply the basic strategy. The facilitators or change agents
encourage each person in a group to express concerns about the programs,
projects, or policies in question. They listen attentively, elicit input from
group members, form "task forces," urge participants to make lists, and in
going through these motions, learn about each member of a group. They are
trained to identify the "leaders," the "loud mouths," the "weak or
non-committal members," and those who are apt to change sides frequently during
an argument. Suddenly, the amiable facilitators become professional agitators
and "devil's advocates." Using the "divide and conquer" principle, they
manipulate one opinion against another, making those who are out of step appear
"ridiculous, unknowledgeable, inarticulate, or dogmatic." They attempt to anger
certain participants, thereby accelerating tensions. The facilitators are well
trained in psychological manipulation. They are able to predict the reactions
of each member in a group. Individuals in opposition to the desired policy or
program will be shut out. The Delphi Technique works. It is very effective
with parents, teachers, school children, and community groups. The
"targets" rarely, if ever, realize that they are being manipulated. If they do
suspect what is happening, they do not know how to end the process. The
facilitator seeks to polarize the group in order to become an accepted member
of the group and of the process. The desired idea is then placed on the table
and individual opinions are sought during discussion. Soon, associates from the
divided group begin to adopt the idea as if it were their own, and they
pressure the entire group to accept their proposition.
How the Delphi Technique Works Consistent use of this technique to control
public participation in our political system is causing alarm among people who
cherish the form of government established by our Founding Fathers. Efforts in
education and other areas have brought the emerging picture into focus. In
the not-too-distant past, the city of Spokane, in Washington state, hired a
consultant to the tune of $47,000 to facilitate the direction of city
government. This development brought a hue and cry from the local population.
The ensuing course of action holds an eerie similarity to what is happening in
education reform. A newspaper editorial described how groups of disenfranchised
citizens were brought together to "discuss" what they felt needed to be changed
at the local government level. A compilation of the outcomes of those
"discussions" influenced the writing of the city/county charter. That sounds
innocuous. But what actually happened in Spokane is happening in
communities and school districts all across the country. Let's review the
process that occurs in these meetings. First, a facilitator is hired. While
his job is supposedly neutral and non-judgmental, the opposite is actually
true. The facilitator is there to direct the meeting to a preset conclusion.
The facilitator begins by working the crowd to establish a good-guy-bad-guy
scenario. Anyone disagreeing with the facilitator must be made to appear as the
bad guy, with the facilitator appearing as the good guy. To accomplish this,
the facilitator seeks out those who disagree and makes them look foolish,
inept, or aggressive, which sends a clear message to the rest of the audience
that, if they don't want the same treatment, they must keep quiet. When the
opposition has been identified and alienated, the facilitator becomes the good
guy - a friend - and the agenda and direction of the meeting are established
without the audience ever realizing what has happened. Next,
the attendees are broken up into smaller groups of seven or eight people. Each
group has its own facilitator. The group facilitators steer participants to
discuss preset issues, employing the same tactics as the lead facilitator.
Participants are encouraged to put their ideas and disagreements on paper, with
the results to be compiled later. Who does the compiling? If you ask
participants, you typically hear: "Those running the meeting compiled the
results." Oh-h! The next question is: "How do you know that what you wrote on
your sheet of paper was incorporated into the final outcome?" The typical
answer is: "Well, I've wondered about that, because what I wrote doesn't seem
to be reflected. I guess my views were in the minority." That is the crux of
the situation. If 50 people write down their ideas individually, to be compiled
later into a final outcome, no one knows what anyone else has written. That the
final outcome of such a meeting reflects anyone's input at all
is highly questionable, and the same holds true when the facilitator records
the group's comments on paper. But participants in these types of meetings
usually don't question the process. Why hold such meetings at all if the
outcomes are already established? The answer is because it is imperative for
the acceptance of the School-to-Work agenda, or the environmental agenda, or
whatever the agenda, that ordinary people assume ownership of the preset
outcomes. If people believe an idea is theirs, they'll support it. If they
believe an idea is being forced on them, they'll resist. The Delphi Technique
is being used very effectively to change our government from a representative
form in which elected individuals represent the people, to a "participatory
democracy" in which citizens selected at large are facilitated into ownership
of preset outcomes. These citizens believe that their input is important to the
result, whereas the reality is that the outcome was already
established by people not apparent to the participants.
How to Diffuse the Delphi Technique Three steps can diffuse the Delphi
Technique as facilitators attempt to steer a meeting in a specific direction.
Always be charming, courteous, and pleasant. Smile. Moderate your voice so
as not to come across as belligerent or aggressive.
Stay focused. If possible, jot down your thoughts or questions. When
facilitators are asked questions they don't want to answer, they often digress
from the issue that was raised and try instead to put the questioner on the
defensive. Do not fall for this tactic. Courteously bring the facilitator back
to your original question. If he rephrases it so that it becomes an accusatory
statement (a popular tactic), simply say, "That is not what I asked. What I
asked was . . ." and repeat your question.
Be persistent. If putting you on the defensive doesn't work, facilitators
often resort to long monologues that drag on for several minutes. During that
time, the group usually forgets the question that was asked, which is the
intent. Let the facilitator finish. Then with polite persistence state: "But
you didn't answer my question. My question was . . ." and repeat your question.
Never become angry under any circumstances. Anger directed at the facilitator
will immediately make the facilitator the victim. This defeats the purpose. The
goal of facilitators is to make the majority of the group members like them,
and to alienate anyone who might pose a threat to the realization of their
agenda. People with firm, fixed beliefs, who are not afraid to stand up for
what they believe in, are obvious threats. If a participant becomes a victim,
the facilitator loses face and favor with the crowd. This is why crowds are
broken up into groups of seven or eight, and why objections are written on
paper rather than voiced aloud where they can be open to public discussion and
debate. It's called crowd control. At a meeting, have two or three people who
know the Delphi Technique dispersed through the crowd so that, when the
facilitator digresses from a question, they can stand up and politely say: "But
you didn't answer that lady/gentleman's question." Even if
the facilitator suspects certain group members are working together, he will
not want to alienate the crowd by making accusations. Occasionally, it takes
only one incident of this type for the crowd to figure out what's going on.
Establish a plan of action before a meeting. Everyone on your team should know
his part. Later, analyze what went right, what went wrong and why, and what
needs to happen the next time. Never strategize during a meeting. A popular
tactic of facilitators, if a session is meeting with resistance, is to call a
recess. During the recess, the facilitator and his spotters (people who observe
the crowd during the course of a meeting) watch the crowd to see who
congregates where, especially those who have offered resistance. If the
resistors congregate in one place, a spotter will gravitate to that group and
join in the conversation, reporting what was said to the facilitator. When the
meeting resumes, the facilitator will steer clear of the
resistors. Do not congregate. Instead gravitate to where the facilitators or
spotters are. Stay away from your team members. This strategy also works in a
face-to-face, one-on-one meeting with anyone trained to use the Delphi
Technique. Lynn Stuter is an education researcher in Washington state. Her
web site address is www.learn-usa.com/.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphi_method
http://www.learn-usa.com/transformation_process/acf001.htm
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