Consultation facilitates ownership of decisions

of the crew, I informally became the leader of our fishing team.
Initially, I was just co-ordinating the activities of the entire group. At first I would phone everyone before I arrive at any decision which affected the whole team.
As time passed, I started making unilateral decisions. I would make decisions on what I considered to be less involving issues.
In my own opinion, I was supposed to expedite the activities of the group. Gradually, I started sensing some hints of dissension.
Though no one talked about it openly, I started feeling some kind of animosity growing within our group.
I ignored it, but later I decided to confront the boys to ascertain why the morale in the team was low.
Three of my four colleagues refused to come out openly but James told me that I was becoming too powerful for the group.
This did not make sense to me. The other team members eventually confronted me and told me that I was doing things without consulting them.
Consultation is one of the issues that my tribe — the Maungwe people — are well known for, it is a religious implementation of their customs at functions (such as marriages, births, funerals, traditional ceremonies and any other family gatherings.
They have a system called “kukwidza nyaya” (a system were each member has to know their level of seniority in the family).
Once a resolution is passed, it communicated to every member starting from the most junior person to the most senior person.
Each member of the family will relay the resolution to the next person.
This process goes on until the issue is passed onto the most senior person in the family.
Though I hated this norm, now I realise that this was a consultative process, which ensures that no one (present during deliberations) will ever say that he or she was not consulted should anything go wrong in the future.
This process was deeply entrenched to ensure collective ownership of decisions as well as to ensure the Maungwe people understand the levels of seniority.
At the bottom are nephews and the most senior are grandfathers.
During any consultative process, it is imperative to appreciate the complexities of seniority and navigate through the members of different stratification without ruffling any features.
Another important dimension is the recognition that every member (no matter how young nor old) is genuinely interested in the affairs and social well-being of its family members.
An important aspect of “kukwidza nyaya” model was to allow a system of collective responsibility, and decision making without compromising on time.
This was done by ensuring that everyone knows his/her senior and would sit next them at ceremonies.
In the event that the resolution has been passed it would go through the ranks from the most junior to the most senior in less than two minutes even if the clan comprises 50 members.
If the consultation process is expensive on time then it becomes counter-productive.
A balance has to be struck between consulting and time allocated for the exercise.
The elderly members of the clan normally make decisions but these are made even in the presence of a five-year-old boy.
In the Maungwe tribe, everyone is important though the elderly counsel is most respected.
Similarly, innovative ideas at times come from low- level employees such general hands provided there are accorded some respect by those at the top.
In addition, the system had checks and balances to ensure each member clearly understood the resolution.
If the member passed on a wrong resolution he/she would be immediately corrected to ensure that members are on the same footing.
In our family set-up, do we consult our young children when arriving at decisions which affect them?
Do we think our children contribute anything to the family or are mere trophies?
How often does management check to see if their subordinates understand company decisions?
The fact that the decision would be passed on by every member present also helped in reinforcing the decision in members’ minds so that they would not quickly forget them.
It encourages inclusivity and a buy-in to the decision.
A friend once told me about the way the Bakwena tribe of South Africa operate.
The Bakwena tribe is the owner of massive platinum reserves in South Africa. He told me that they always sit as a clan to deliberate on how they would use their royalties for the benefit of the whole community.
Though the chief has the final say, most of the decisions made are to a great extent collective.
In our Shona culture we say, “ushe unotonga nevamwe”. (A chief rules effectively if he consults other members of his “dare” (chief’s cabinet).
The cabinet is very useful for consultation. Our traditional “dare” was a place where sharp minds were encouraged and nurtured.
Those who were lazy enough to think or continuously disrupted discussions were assigned to slaughter goats while the “dare” was in session.
The perennial goat dressers ended up losing their respect in the society.
Chiefs in our villages consult people with relevant experience and expertise.
In most cases they consulted the elderly people in the village who have seen it all.
The decision to consult is not simple because issues are not standard. This complicates the process.
The chief has to decide on who to consult, what to consult, how to consult, and when to consult?
Issues to consult on are not standardised but situational.