Delphi Method
Categories: Company Management, Metrics
No, the Delphi Method is not a form of birth control. Named after the Oracle of Delphi in Greek mythology. The Oracle was a priestess who conferred with god Apollo and made prophecies that influenced and guided both government and individuals. The Delphi method is a consensus building way to gather expert opinions anonymously for the purposes of making inferred predictions.
Created by the Rand Corp. during the post-WWII era, the system involves a facilitator creating and distributing questionnaires to a select group of experts in a particular field of study. The answers are returned anonymously, collated, and then distributed to all of the experts for further input, or for any change in their opinions upon review of the other answers. The facilitator repeats this lathering, rinsing, repeating thing several times until satisfied as to the answers, and that the required information to summarize likely future outcomes is sufficient.