[Redbob]

This technique was used often in the Jap company I used to work for, under the guise of "consensus."
Our management would hold a series of meetings with employees to "solve" a problem, using the consensus method.
These meetings would invariably break-down, however, if any solution other than the pre-determined one was advanced.

So much for "teamwork!"

[Freedom4US]

yep. and "consensus" is another way of saying that there's no leadership. The "Delphi Technique" was actually developed by the Rand corporation think-tank as a specialized way of obtaining information from experts about the probability of a nuclear war. None of the respondents met in person.

The latest controversy over "terrorism futures" is a similar concept. What these articles are really talking about is the "Alinsky method", a perversion of the Delphi technique.