THE DELPHI TECHNIQUE: ARTICLE ONE BY DONNA GARNER:
“The Delphi
Technique – Two Articles”
by Donna Garner
4.22.13
Someone wrote to me
today and said that the CSCOPE/TESCCC/ESC
establishment is using the Delphi Technique to
manipulate the parent meetings being held around
the state. If that is the case, then people need
to become highly aware of the Delphi Technique and
how to defend themselves from being manipulated by
it.
I was Delphied when
I served on the writing team for English /
Language Arts / Reading curriculum standards
(TEKS) from 1995 – 1997. I have posted my article
on the Delphi Technique at the bottom of this
page.
Following is an
article written by Albert V. Burns in which he
describes the Delphi Technique:
“The Delphi Technique: Let’s Stop Being
Manipulated!”
By Albert V. Burns
More and more, we are seeing citizens being
invited to “participate” in various forms of
meetings, councils, or boards to “help determine”
public policy in one field or another. They are
supposedly being included to get ”input” from the
public to help officials make final decisions on
taxes, education, community growth or whatever the
particular subject matter might be.
Sounds great, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, surface
appearances are often deceiving.
You, Mr. or Mrs. Citizen, decide to take part in
one of these meetings. Generally, you will find
that there is already someone designated to lead
or “facilitate” the meeting. Supposedly, the job
of the facilitator is to be a neutral,
non-directing helper to see that the meeting flows
smoothly. Actually, he or she is there for exactly
the opposite reason: to see that the conclusions
reached during the meeting are in accord with a
plan already decided upon by those who called the
meeting.
The process used to “facilitate” the meeting is
called the Delphi Technique.
This Delphi Technique was developed by the RAND
Corporation for the U.S. Department of Defense
back in the 1950s. It was originally intended for
use as a psychological weapon during the cold war.
However, it was soon recognized that the steps of
Delphi could be very valuable in manipulating ANY
meeting toward a predetermined end.
How does the process take place? The techniques
are well developed and well defined. First, the
person who will be leading the meeting, the
facilitator or Change Agent must be a likable
person with whom those participating in the
meeting can agree or sympathize. It is, therefore,
the job of the facilitator to find a way to cause
a split in the audience, to establish one or a few
of the people as “bad guys” while the facilitator
is perceived as the “good guy.”
Facilitators are trained to recognize potential
opponents and how to make such people appear
aggressive, foolish, extremist, etc. Once this is
done, the facilitator establishes himself or
herself as the “friend” of the rest of the
audience. The stage is now set for the rest of the
agenda to take place.
At this point, the audience is generally broken up
into “discussion—or ‘breakout’—groups” of seven or
eight people each. Each of these groups is to be
led by a subordinate facilitator. Within each
group, discussion takes place of issues, already
decided upon by the leadership of the meeting.
Here, too, the facilitator manipulates the
discussion in the desired direction, isolating and
demeaning opposing viewpoints.
Generally, participants are asked to write down
their ideas and disagreements with the papers to
be turned in and “compiled” for general discussion
after the general meeting is reconvened.
This is the weak link in the chain, which you are
not supposed to recognize. Who compiles the
various notes into the final agenda for
discussion? Ahhhh! Well, it is those who are
running the meeting.
How do you know that the ideas on your notes were
included in the final result? You don’t! You may
realize that your idea was not included and come
to the conclusion that you were probably in the
minority. Recognize that every other citizen
member of this meeting has written his or her
likes or dislikes on a similar sheet of paper and
they, too, have no idea whether their ideas were
“compiled” into the final result! You don’t even
know if anyone’s ideas are part of the final
“conclusions” presented to the reassembled group
as the “consensus” of public opinion.
Rarely does anyone challenge the process, since
each concludes that he or she was in the minority
and different from all the others. So, now, those
who organized the meeting in the first place are
able to tell the participants and the rest of the
community that the conclusions, reached at the
meeting, are the result of public participation.
Actually, the desired conclusions had been
established, in the back room, long before the
meeting ever took place. There are variations in
the technique to fit special situations but, in
general, the procedure outlined above takes place.
The natural question to ask here is: If the
outcome was preordained before the meeting took
place, why have the meeting?
Herein lies the genius of this Delphi Technique.
It is imperative that the general public believe
that this program is theirs! They thought it up!
They took part in its development! Their input was
recognized! If people believe that the program is
theirs, they will support it. If they get the
slightest hint that the program is being imposed
upon them, they will resist.
This very effective technique is being used, over
and over and over, to change our form of
government from the representative republic,
intended by the Founding Fathers, into a
“participatory democracy." Now, citizens chosen at
large are manipulated into accepting preset
outcomes while they believe that the input they
provided produced the outcomes which are now
theirs! The reality is that the final outcome was
already determined long before any public meetings
took place, determined by individuals unknown to
the public.
Can you say “Conspiracy?
“These “Change Agents” or “Facilitators” can be
beaten! They can be beaten using their own methods
against them. Because it is so important, I will
repeat the suggestions I gave in a
previous column.
One: Never, never lose your temper! Lose your temper and lose the battle, it is that simple! Smile, if it kills you to do so. Be courteous at all times. Speak in a normal tone of voice.
Two:
Stay focused! Always write your question or
statement down in advance to help you remember the
exact manner in which your question or statement
was made. These agents are trained to twist things
to make anyone not acceding to their agenda look
silly or aggressive. Smile, wait till the change
agent gets done speaking and then bring them back
to your question.
If they distort what you said, simply remind those in the group that what he or she is saying is not what you asked or said and then repeat, verbatim, from your notes the original objection.
Three: Be
persistent! Wait through any harangues and then
repeat the original question.
Four, don’t go alone! Get as many friends or
relatives who think as you do, to go along with
you to the meeting. Have each person ”armed” with
questions or statements which all generally
support your central viewpoint. Don’t sit together
as a group! Spread out through the audience so
that your group does not seem to be a group.
Fifth, when the facilitator or change agent avoids
answering your question and insists that he must
move on so everyone may have a chance to speak,
your own agents in the audience can then ask
questions, worded differently, but still with the
same meaning as yours. They can bring the
discussion back to your original point. They could
even point out, in a friendly manner, that the
agent did not really answer your question. The
more the agent avoids your question, and the more
your friends bring that to the attention of the
group, the more the audience will shift in your
favor. To quote my informant: “Turn the technique
back on them and isolate the change agent as the
kook. I’ve done it and seen steam come out of the
ears of those power brokers in the wings w ho are
trying to shove something down the citizen’s
throats.
And it’s so much fun to watch the moderator squirm
and lose his cool, all while trying to keep a
smile on his face. “Now that you understand how
meetings are manipulated, let’s show them up for
the charlatans which they are.