Replies

One of the best tactics against Delphi is to designate a sacrificial lamb. You have to plan before hand and it is very hard to pull off on the spur of the moment. The purpose of this person is to draw the fire of the facilitator. The sacrificial lamb will end up being hated by everyone on both sides. Their purpose is to simply, and politely, dump derision on the ideas of the facilitator, and point out the tactics they are using. If the facilitator isn't a pro, but just one of the usual liberal pocket dictators, you can sometimes get them so angry that they snap at you or try to have you thrown out. Ask questions like, "Some people have issues about going up to the podium, how about putting some microphone down in the isles?" You also are the one who continually points out that the question isn't being answered. You must stay civil, so they can’t throw you out, but definitely be a pest. The operational word is cynical and snaky. If the facilitator makes it personal, all the better, it bites them later. It makes it much harder for them to look reasonable if they just did a full scale verbal beat down on somebody in the room.

Remember the facilitator wouldn’t be trying Delphi unless they believed they were smarter than all the rubes in the room. When things stop going to plan they will start to get angry that somebody isn’t playing by their rules and try to push the person out, or change the rules. As the SL your goal is not to propose alternatives, in fact that is the one thing you must never ever do. Your goal is to have to get them off script and focus all their attention on you. It won’t work with a true professional, but I’ve used it a couple of times on petty tyrants from my homeowners association and the village board of directors. Note: if you play this part nobody is going to like you.

This is why this has to be part of a group tactic. The goal is to make the meeting become a peeing match between you and the pocket dictator. Then have one of your compatriots, who as stated in an earlier post isn’t sitting with you and isn’t seen talking to you, put forward the counter offer. They seem like a reasonable middle ground, and an alternative to the acrimony that has been going on in the room. Delphi works almost 100% of the time on a group of individuals; it can be broken by a team, especially when up against armatures like town halls or teachers meetings.