Re: Consensus training
From: Michael McIntyre (aragonumich.edu)
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 1997 00:25:34 -0600
On Tue, 9 Dec 1997 cohousing-l [at] freedom.mtn.org wrote:

> from: Paul Kilduff, Liberty Village, Maryland

> We are thinking of hiring C T Butler, author of _On Conflict and
> Consensus_, to conduct a workshop for our group (and _perhaps_ other
> coho groups and other groups in the area which use consensus) on how to
> implement his methods.
> 
> Has anybody had experience with C T Butler's workshop, and have anything
> good or bad to report?

I've attended short sessions with CT and found him quite knowledgeable and
articulate.  I believe Shannon Farm in VA (http://www.ic.org/shannonfarm/)
brings him in annually to review/retrain the community in the Formal
Census method they use. 

> Has anybody hired anybody else to conduct a consensus workshop, and what
> was your experience, and how much did it cost?

A few of us took and had a good experience with GREAT LAKES CONSENSUS for
a weekend workshop. $150/seat. Well worth it.
(http://www.ic.org/market/market2.html#serv) Also the Fellowship for
Intentional Community (www.ic.org/fic/) is connected with a number of
excellent Consensus trainers.  Ask for a local referral.

> Any comments on the general usefulness of consensus workshops?  In our
> group, using consensus without group training has been compared to
> trying to teach yourself to drive by reading a manual.  Can a group
> learn to use consensus effectively by reading a book, or by having
> several of its members attend training and then come back and train the
> rest of the group?

Good comparison.  I think everyone, facilitators and participants, in a
group serious about using consensus ought to have some formal training by
Pros and certainly make a study of the many good books available.

Cheers,
        Michael
_________________________________________________________________
Michael McIntyre                  Sunward Cohousing of Ann Arbor
michael [at] ic.org                             www.ic.org/sunward/
313-998-7140                            sunward [at] ic.org
                                        313-930-6425

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