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From: Sharon Villines (sharonsharonvillines.com)
Date: Sun, 16 Sep 2007 08:21:00 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Nancy Dennis" <sustainabelle [at] gmail.com>
Date: September 11, 2007 10:42:33 AM EDT

I recently finished reading your book, We the People. I LOVE it! The ideas are invirgorating to me because they break new ground in my thinking and neatly solve many problems I've seen in groups using consensus. A very well-written book. Thank-you!

Thank you for the comments. I would like to hear from everyone who is reading the book. We are about to do a second printing to correct some typos and make other minor corrections. Like the comments below, we would also like to hear what we missed.

Given that you are coauthor, I was a little disappointed that no examples were given of the method being used in cohousing groups in particular and very few examples were given of its use in non- profits in general. Perhaps this is because very few non-profits are using the method. Do you know of other cohousing groups besides your own that are using Sociocracy?

The reason for this is that my co-author was primarily interested in developing the corporate/business market for sociocracy. It has also been most used in the business environment so those examples were most available and convincing.

Writing for both audiences at the same time would have been difficult because their concerns are too different. They shouldn't be but they are. Rather than fight that fight, I chose to just separate the topics. I'm planning a second book that will address uses in associations and governments where values are at least acknowledged as more central to the concerns of the organization.

In the thread "Revisiting Consensus", you wrote:
"What most groups using consensus decision making lack is a structure
in which to make those decisions. In a sociocratic structure, it
would be clear where and how a decision would be reopened."

I'm wondering how a meeting of the whole cohousing community fits in the circle structure of Sociocracy. The answer to this question may be of interest only to those who have read the book, but the question illustrates why I would love to read descriptions of Sociocracy at work in a cohousing group.

I queried Gerard Endenburg on this because it is a big question for cohousing groups but is not a desire of businesses or even most associations. My coauthor is aghast at the idea, for example.

Gerard says this is perfectly acceptable in sociocracy.

        + there has to be a common goal;
        + there has to be a process to realize this goal;
        + there has to be leadership to guide this process.

One of the not often discussed process in sociocracy is the defining of a work process to "create organization." In the book this is discussed on p 77+ and Chapter 12, "Organizing Work by Producing Organization."

In the circle structure, the community would be functioning as a General Circle. Most incorporation laws require that HOAs have boards so the board would be defined but their meetings could be held at the same time as the General Circle meetings.

(In case people have not been to the Sociocracy.info site, we are selling books in lots of 10 and 20 at a 50% discount if there are communities that would like to make a group purchase.)

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines
Coauthor with John Buck of We the People
Consenting to a Deeper Democracy
A Guide to Sociocratic Principles and Methods
ISBN: 9780979282706
http://www.sociocracy.info

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