Be afraid when everyone is 'aligned'

Imagine leading a meeting where a complex issue is discussed and a high stakes decision needs to be taken. How many times have you seen - in such a situation - the most vocal and extrovert member made all the points and then the conclusion too. And if this member was known to have provided good inputs in 'other' situations (not connected with the issue being discussed), there was a halo effect as well. Other members remembered that and lined up behind him in the meeting.

Be aware when this happens. Your original intention of calling everyone was to bring forward the full range of "independent" opinions/thoughts/suggestions on the issue. Preferably, the more different the views are, the better it would have been. But that did not happen above!

For those who have done statistical modelling, there is a parallel. If input variables with which you tried to model an output were highly correlated with each other, you knew you had 'less information'. You looked for more 'independent' variables. This is exactly the same thing in real life when people giving you inputs are all 'aligned'.

A method I learnt from one of my managers works very well. Force everyone to send you his/her views in writing independent of each other before the meeting. Then the meeting can be controlled much better even if one person tries to run away with it. You can always nudge the silent ones to bring forward their views which they have already written down. Get a good debate going and thrash the issue like you intended....