Agreement, Not Majority

The Akan are a people of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire with a rich tradition of proverbs, political institutions and thought about the person. Kwasi Wiredu, a Ghanaian philosopher who taught in Ghana and the United States, drew on that tradition in his work.

He described how traditional Akan councils made decisions. Elders spoke for their lineages and talked until they reached consensus, a position that everyone could accept, even if it was no one’s first choice. The aim was reconciliation, not victory. A decision by bare majority, Wiredu argued, can leave a large minority feeling ruled by others.

He proposed that modern African states could learn from this, with governments formed by agreement rather than by parties. Critics ask whether consensus works in large, divided societies, or lets the powerful press others to agree.

The office move

A team must choose a new office. A vote would split them six to four, and the four would resent the result for months.

Instead they talk until they find a location that no one loves but everyone can accept: near a train line, with a quiet room. It takes an extra meeting. Nobody leaves feeling defeated.

Try this today In your next group decision, ask what everyone can live with before you call a vote.