Consensus
Overview

18 pluggable ways to think together

A method for the shape of the question.

Consensus turns a group conversation into a deliberate process. Choose a framework yourself, or let automatic routing recommend the methods best suited to the issue and the kind of answer you need.

Explore all methods
Your issue What are we trying to learn?
Automatic routing Method Recommender

No need to choose alone

Describe the issue. Consensus can route it.

The built-in Method Recommender classifies the topic and desired answer, then suggests the best-fitting methods. For a collaborative choice, Guided Triage has the moderator ask about the problem, decision context, and uncertainty before the group confirms a recommendation and switches methods automatically.

  1. 01FrameDescribe the issue and outcome.
  2. 02MatchCompare the problem with the catalogue.
  3. 03RouteConfirm and begin the best-fit method.

The complete catalogue

From exploration to a defensible conclusion.

Every method changes the phases, prompts, response handling, and synthesis while the same core engine manages participants, turns, evidence tools, and persistence.

01General

Open Discussion

A flexible moderated round-robin for broad exploration, with an optional Devil's Advocate.

A strong general-purpose default
02Investigate

Analysis of Competing Hypotheses

Tests evidence against every plausible explanation, emphasizing diagnostic and disconfirming evidence.

  1. Hypothesise
  2. Gather
  3. Evaluate
  4. Analyse
03Estimate

Belief State Diffusion

Tracks explicit probability distributions as participants update beliefs and reveal which arguments persuaded them.

  1. Prior
  2. Diffuse
  3. Diagnose
04Estimate

Delphi Method

Uses anonymous estimates and revision rounds to reduce anchoring, authority bias, and social pressure.

  1. Estimate
  2. Revise
  3. Synthesise
05Challenge

Premortem Analysis

Assumes a proposed conclusion has failed, then works backward to uncover overlooked risks and causes.

  1. Frame
  2. Premortem
  3. Consolidate
06Clarify

Key Assumptions Check

Surfaces the assumptions beneath a question, challenges them directly, and assesses which ones are fragile.

  1. Surface
  2. Challenge
  3. Assess
07Disagree

Adversarial Collaboration

Has opposing participants agree on decision criteria before gathering evidence, limiting post-hoc rationalisation.

  1. Positions
  2. Criteria
  3. Evidence
  4. Adjudicate
08Challenge

Red Team / Blue Team

Builds a conclusion, attacks it through a rotating adversarial role, then revises and reassesses it.

  1. Construct
  2. Attack
  3. Revise
  4. Assess
09Decide

Participant Voting

Turns deliberation into formal motions and auditable votes with configurable decision thresholds.

  1. Deliberate
  2. Vote
  3. Tally
10Challenge

Counterfactual Stress Testing

Asks what happens if each key claim is false, exposing the beliefs that truly support a conclusion.

  1. Deliberate
  2. Extract
  3. Stress test
  4. Synthesise
11Complexity

Recursive Decomposition

Breaks a complex question into tractable sub-questions, analyses each, and recomposes the findings.

  1. Decompose
  2. Analyse
  3. Integrate
  4. Recompose
12Evaluate

Recursive Self-Distillation

Strips persuasive prose to a logical skeleton, then evaluates the reasoning without rhetorical influence.

  1. Generate
  2. Distill
  3. Evaluate
  4. Synthesise
13Adversarial

Court of Law

Runs a structured trial with opposing teams, private huddles, formal cases, and a moderator's reasoned verdict.

  1. Arraign
  2. Cases
  3. Close
  4. Verdict
14Generate

Nominal Group Technique

Generates ideas independently, merges duplicates, clarifies options, then ranks them with allocated points.

  1. Generate
  2. Cluster
  3. Clarify
  4. Allocate
  5. Rank
15Decide

Weighted Decision Matrix (MCDA)

Scores options against shared weighted criteria, ranks them, and tests whether the winner is robust.

  1. Options
  2. Criteria
  3. Score
  4. Sensitivity
  5. Decide
16Disagree

Double Crux

Finds the factual belief actually driving a disagreement and focuses the evidence on that point.

  1. Positions
  2. Hunt
  3. Identify
  4. Test
  5. Resolve
17Explore

Tree of Thoughts

Explores approaches in parallel, scores and prunes them, then deepens the strongest paths until rankings stabilise.

  1. Propose
  2. Score
  3. Prune
  4. Expand
  5. Synthesise
18Route

Guided Triage

Interviews the group about the problem and uncertainty, recommends a method, then switches after confirmation.

  1. Intake
  2. Recommend
  3. Confirm

One engine, many structures

Start with a method—or start with the question.

Methods are selected when a discussion is created. New frameworks can also be added through Consensus's pluggable method architecture.

Install Consensus Read the technical documentation