Dissent is an integral part of the decision process and must be embraced by the process.

The nature of consensus is that all parties agree that the selected solution is acceptable. The key to achieving this result is to use dissent as a driving force for the process rather than simply cataloguing the dissenting views.

Consensus addresses dissent in throughout the problem solving process. "Dissenting" viewpoints are sought , collected and used to formulate sensitivity tests on the final selection. The very nature of the criteria assessment and robustness studies in the Consensus Technoogy Method™ is to address the issues raised by the questioning of the process and the solutions. The result of not only including but embracing the opposing viewpoint is an inclusion of the people with those issues in the process rather than an alienation of them and/or their ideas.