I'd be more receptive to using silence in meetings as in the KJ method, if
I hadn't sat through dozens of applications of the Nominal Group Technique
and observed time after time after time the many misinterpretations of
what other people's written ideas are intended to communicate; and how
critical it is to have on the agenda clarification periods where
everyone's individual ideas are clarified through interchange among
people. There are times when no matter how much dialog occurs, people
still cannot understand ideas, even after repeated efforts to edit them.
I remember reading in one of the publications, possibly MEMORY JOGGER II
or maybe BETTER DESIGNS IN HALF THE TIME, or maybe in one of the handouts
from the AMERICAN SUPPLIER INSTITUTE that it is well to keep quiet because
if you speak you may create conflict.
God help us.
-- JOHN WARFIELD Jwarfiel@gmu.edu