[ArrogantBustard]

Not quite. Delphi was developed by RAND as a technological forecasting tool; it is (properly) a method of anonymously collecting the opinions of various experts, then allowing them to defend or revise their opinions, in a series of iterations, without personalities interfering in the process. It can, properly, be used to arrive at a consensus OR to identify multiple possible outcomes.

It is abused, as you say, by folks who wish to drive a meeting to a predetermined conclusion.

[TommyDale]

You are probably correct. I have only seen it in the abusive format as a control on a group. I first witnessed it at Hewlett Packard as a management tool, then at another company owned and operated by Scientologists. It was an eerie similarity, and then I did some research and put the two together. It goes by various names, but the methods are the same. Many times there are disastrous results, such as a high turnover in management, sales staffs, church congretations, etc. who won't put up with such control tactics. Unfortunately, it is most often the weaker people in the church congregation that are found to be under such control.