To use the decision by majority method, leaders identify two or more options, and all members of the group vote. In most groups, the option that receives a majority of the votes (the most) is declared the winner. This is a common and familiar way to make decisions in groups. Since leaders pick only a few choices for members to vote on, decision by majority can be efficient—particularly in larger groups, where discussion of various options can take up a lot of time. However, this is not a good approach to use when a group needs to make a quick decision, as in the situation the Oreo branding team faced at the Super Bowl.

One possible consequence in using this approach is that voting divides a group into winners and losers. Those who voted for an option that “lost” may feel that they wasted their time or that their input wasn’t valued. Therefore, they may not feel committed to following through on what the group decided.