The Delphi Technique

The Delphi Technique was originally conceived as a way to obtain the opinion of experts without necessarily bringing them together face to face.  In recent times, however, it has taken on an all new meaning and purpose.  In Educating for the New World Order by B. Eakman, the reader finds reference upon reference for the need to preserve the illusion that there is "…lay, or community, participation (in the decision-making process), while lay citizens were, in fact, being squeezed
out."  The Delphi Technique is the method being used to squeeze citizens out of the process, effecting a left-wing take over of the forum.

A specialized use of this technique was developed for teachers, the "Alinsky Method".  The setting or group is, however, immaterial; the point is that people in groups tend to share a certain knowledge base and display certain identifiable characteristics (known as group dynamics).  This allows for a special application of a basic technique.

The change agent or facilitator goes through the motions of acting as an organizer, getting each person in the target group to elicit expression of their concerns about a program, project, or policy in question.  The facilitator listens attentively, forms "task forces", "urges everyone to make lists," and so on.  While s/he is doing this, the facilitator learns something about each member of the target group.  S/He identifies the "leaders," the "loud mouths," as well as those who frequently turn sides during the argument -- i.e. the "weak or noncommittal".

Suddenly, the amiable facilitator becomes "devil's advocate."  S/He dons his professional agitator hat.  Using the "divide and conquer" technique, s/he manipulates one group opinion against the other.  This is accomplished by manipulating those who are out of step to appear "ridiculous, unknowledgeable, inarticulate, or dogmatic."  S/He wants certain members of the group to become angry, thereby forcing tensions to accelerate.  The facilitator is well trained in psychological manipulation.  S/He is able to predict the reactions of each group member.  Individuals in opposition to the policy or program will be marginalized out of the group.

The method works.  It is very effective with parents, teachers, school children, and any community group.  The "targets" rarely, if ever, know that they are being manipulated.  Or, if they suspect this is happening, do not know how to end the process.

The desired result is for group polarization, and for the facilitator to become accepted as a member of the group and group process.  S/He will then throw the desired idea on the table and ask for opinions during discussion.  Very soon his/her associates from the divided group begin to adopt the idea as if it were their own, and pressure the entire group to accept the proposition.

This technique is a very unethical method of achieving consensus on a controversial topic in group settings.  It requires well-trained professionals who deliberately escalate tension among group members, pitting one faction against the other, so as to make one viewpoint appear ridiculous so the other becomes "sensible" whether such is warranted or not.

The Delphi Technique is based on the Hegelian Principle of achieving "Oneness of Mind" through a three-step process of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis.  In thesis and antithesis, all present their opinion or views on a given subject, establishing views and opposing views.  In synthesis, opposites are brought together to form the new thesis.  All participants are then to accept ownership of the new thesis and support it, changing their own views to align with the new thesis.  Through a continual process of evolution, "Oneness of Mind" will supposedly occur.

The theory of the Delphi and the reality of the Delphi are, obviously, quite different — the reality being that "Oneness of Mind" does not occur but only the illusion of "Oneness of Mind" with those who refuse to be Delphi'd being alienated from participating in the process.  The facilitator and sponsor entity then proclaim that consensus has been reached through vigorous and wide public debate.

While proponents of progressive reform feel they are quite justified in this, the effect of this unethical manipulation of people is to create polarized camps.  In an effort to maintain the process, advocates have marketed a plethora of publications (such as What's Left After the Right, No Right Turn and If You Don't, They Will) intended to label, castigate, and alienate anyone who does not go along with them.  As a result, people finally come to understand that their role in "reform" is merely perfunctory; that the outcome is preset ― that they are nothing but the rah-rah team so when opposition does arise, advocates of progressive reform can say, "we had community input".

To make sure that the situation is controlled, only those who agree with the process are allowed on restructuring teams.  New participants are carefully screened to ensure that progressive reform goes forward unquestioned.

Background and Motivation

The Delphi technique was developed by the RAND Corporation in the late 1960's as a forecasting methodology.  Later, the U.S. government enhanced it as a group decision-making tool with the results of Project HINDSIGHT, which established a factual basis for the workability of Delphi.  That project produced a tool in which a group of experts could come to some consensus of opinion when the decisive factors were subjective, and not knowledge-based.

Delphi is particularly appropriate when decision-making is required in a political or emotional environment, or when the decisions affect strong factions with opposing preferences.  The tool works formally or informally, in large or small contexts, and reaps the benefits of group decision making while insulating the process from the limitations of group decision-making; e.g., over-dominant group members, political lobbying, or "bandwagonism".

Delphi has worked well when trying to prioritize national funding for projects among different states with conflicting goals, or if the scale of the decision-making problem is very large:  "The size of the budget for ASSIST, and the large number of proposals submitted, generated a complex decision problem.  For example, the number of possible ways of funding is far more than could be considered individually.  In view of this, and the need to identify secondary criteria and allow them to influence the funding decision, decision makers at [National Cancer Institute] decided that a formal modeling approach should be used."

Taiwan used the method to prioritize their entire Information Technology industry, and they conclude:  "Finally, these decisions reflect the experts' world views, life experiences, cognitive feelings and perceptions.  Thus, these results are based on the participants' subjective assessments which may also be influenced by data. Decision-making in itself is subjective. However, the use of experts in a systematic manner will yield a satisfactory solution to sociotechnical problems."

Delphi has the added advantage that it works as an informal, subjective model when the decisions are based on opinion, and can be directly converted to a formal model, when the data is more knowledge-based.

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 education reform agenda, the environmental agenda, or whatever the agenda may be ― 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 visible to the participants.

How to Defuse and Thwart the Delphi Technique

These steps can diffuse the Delphi Technique as facilitators attempt to steer a meeting in a specific direction.

1.  The simplest and most effective method to defeat the delphi technique is for everyone in the meeting to know about it.  That could be as simple as printing and making copies of this information.

2.  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.

3.  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.

4.  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.

5.  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.

6.  Team members should arrive at the meeting separately and never congregate together.  Team players should arrive early enough to take seats around the outside of the assembly area, roughly in the shape of a diamond.  They must not sit together.  The object of the tactic is to place your people around the perimeter of the audience so that, when they begin to take action, those in the center will have to do a lot of head turning to see them – to the right, then the left, then the rear of the room, then the front, etc.  The more they turn their heads, the greater the illusion of being surrounded by people in agreement with each other, and the more they will be convinced that these people represent the majority opinion.

7.  Never take a meeting for granted, especially if something important is scheduled to transpire, such as nomination of officers.  Even a simple gathering to hear an important speaker can turn into a nightmare if opponents send in hecklers.  So, always plan for the worst and be prepared to spring into action with comments from the floor such as:  “I want to make it clear that these people do not speak for me.  I am in total opposition to what they stand for.  In fact, I would like to ask them to identify themselves.  Who are you?  Why did you come to this meeting?  What is your agenda?”  If comments such as this are heard from three or four people around the outside of the room, the meeting will be very exciting, but the tactic will be defused.

This strategy also works in a face-to-face, one-on-one meeting with anyone trained to use the Delphi Technique.

This video shows a great example of pre-determined, imposed false choices, and co-option techniques being used to steer "public input" "visioning" "consensus-building" "charettes" -- i.e. Delphi Process techniques.