All free governments are managed by the combined wisdom and folly of the people.

Any arrangement where everyone has a say will contain everyone’s foolishness as well as everyone’s sense, and the result is always a mixture. That is not a flaw in the design; it is the design. Expecting a free body of people to behave like a single wise person guarantees permanent disappointment, while expecting the mixture lets you work with what is actually there.

When a group decision comes out worse than you wanted, resist the urge to conclude that people are hopeless. Find the one person whose thinking you can actually influence before the next decision, and spend your effort there.