Part 1: The Dangers of Brittle Consensus

You walk out of a key cross-functional meeting about a new product launch. The timeline is ambitious, but everyone nodded. Sales agreed to the new lead targets. Support seemed fine with the rollout plan. You mark it as a win: "Everyone's on board."

Then, a week later, you hear that the sales team is still using their old pitch decks. When you ask the sales manager, she says, "Honestly, we're not convinced those leads will be qualified." The same day, a support lead DMs you: "We're really worried about this launch. We don't have the documentation to handle the new questions, and we didn't want to slow down the meeting."

It's the illusion of alignment that looks solid in the meeting room but shatters the moment it contacts the real-world pressure of a deadline or a difficult task. And it's one of the biggest, most solvable challenges that keeps good teams from becoming great ones.

The Problem is Deeper Than "Agreement"

The problem isn't always that your team is dishonest. The problem is that our consensus is weak. A lack of response in a meeting doesn't mean "I agree." It usually means "I'm not sure," "I don't feel safe to challenge this," or "I'm still processing."

Sometimes, it's even simpler: it's lip service.

In a cross-functional environment, "lip service" is a survival tactic. People are juggling multiple priorities. They "agree" because it's the fastest way to end the meeting and the easiest way to leave without new, unwanted responsibilities being added to their already-full plate. They aren't being malicious; they're just being overloaded.

The True Cost of a Weak Consensus

When brittle consensus breaks, the cost is enormous:

• Wasted Work: The sales team preps for one launch, while engineering builds another.
• Eroded Trust: The support team feels blindsided and "not listened to," making them less likely to speak up next time.
• Stalled Careers: You, the leader, are seen as someone who "can't get alignment" or "can't deliver," even with a great plan.

As leaders, our goal isn't to force harmony. It's to build a consensus so strong, it's *resilient*. This series is about how to do that. We'll learn to spot the signals of a brittle consensus and, more importantly, how to fix them.