Re: Sociocracy and blocking
From: R Philip Dowds (rpdowdscomcast.net)
Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2012 03:25:36 -0700 (PDT)
For a decade, Cornerstone Cohousing has followed its own, unique version of a 
consensus process ending in a "decision rule" of unconditional, unilateral, 
blocking — that is, if any individual says "I block", then it's game over.  Our 
Bylaws don't exactly describe it this way, but that's how we've been operating.

We do allow for an escape hatch.  If, after three Plenaries (meetings of the 
entire community), we still have one or more people blocking, then, by consent 
of 2/3rds, we can go to a series of majority rule votes.  At the 1st, the 
affirmation threshold is 90%; at the 2nd, 70%; and finally, at the 3rd, 50%.
     Needless to say, this six meeting process is so cumbersome, time-consuming 
and painful it is never used.  In practical effect, one single person can 
thwart indefinitely the interests of a very substantial majority.  Thus we 
often find ourselves bogged down in an unfixable status quo where many 
proposals are not even tried, because it seems like all you get for your effort 
is disappointment and anger.

C T Butler, of course, does not recognize individual blocking.  In his 
universe, the "block" is owned by the group as a whole, after a good faith 
process fails to resolve important objections.  Further, the latest thinking in 
Sociocracy is that a "decision rule" requiring unanimity, as the outcome of a 
consensus effort, is inappropriate for cohousing.

The good news is that, after about a half year of work by a core group of 
reformers, our Plenary has just agreed (by its old-style consensus) to suspend 
our Bylaws so we can try out a six-month experiment of  modified consensus 
procedures and decision rules.  We'll keep you posted ...

R Philip Dowds AIA
Cornerstone Cohousing
175 Harvey Street, Unit 5
Cambridge, MA 02140
617.354.6094


On Apr 18, 2012, at 11:57 PM, Richart Keller wrote:

> 
> 
> 
> I wonder how many (and which) communities currently have consensus with no
> recourse if someone blocks? 
> 
> Whether or not they do have such recourse (and I suspect that most do, at
> least on paper) in the rare cases where someone "blocks" an important
> decision, it may be important for the community to spend the time giving
> extra consideration to the concerns expressed for several reasons:
> 
>       1. to be clear that there is a thorough community-wide understanding
> of the basis for the concern so that the outcome is well-
> grounded--including in its rational and emotional dimensions, 
>       2. by such consideration, to acknowledge and respect the consensus
> process, and
>       3. to use the opportunity to strengthen relationships within the
> community. 
> 
> A healthy community should be a continuing, central goal in any
> decision-making process.
> 
> As someone who has grown up with, excercised, and facilitated consensus and
> consenus-like decision making, I have certainly experienced the frustration
> and sometimes seemingly inordinate time required to make an important
> decision.  At the same time, I know from experience that successful
> communities are in it "for the long haul" and that the learning and
> relationship-building that goes on in almost all cases benefits the
> community and the individuals in it.  The pressures to make efficient
> decisions are powerful, but we must not let them over-ride the movement
> toward a peaceful and just world. 
> 
> In community
> 
> Rick
> 
> 
> 
> Richart Keller, AICP
> Pioneer Valley Cohousing
> 120 Pulpit Hill Road #25
> Amherst, MA 01002
> 413-835-0011
> 401 486-2677 (cell)
> (richart.keller [at] gmail.com)
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Fred H Olson [mailto:fholson [at] cohousing.org] 
> Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2012 12:09 PM
> To: Cohousing-L mailing list
> Subject: [C-L]_ Sociocracy Workshop in Maine
> 
> 
> 
> Diana Leafe Christian <diana [at] ic.org>
> is the author of the message below.  It was posted by
> Fred, the Cohousing-L list manager <fholson [at] cohousing.org> after 
> restoring
> subject line from "digest" and deleting quoted digest. Digest subscribers,
> Please try to remember to do this.  Fred
> --------------------  FORWARDED MESSAGE FOLLOWS -------------------- Re
> Sociocracy workshop at Belfast Cohousing
> 
> Hello,
> 
> I'm so glad the folks at Belfast Cohousing (many of whom I've met and like a
> lot) are going to learn the Sociocracy governance and decision- making
> method in their  April 27-29 workshop with John Buck. John is the man who
> learned to read Dutch so he could write about it in English, in the book We
> the People, which he co-authored with Sharon Villines.
> 
> AND I'm so glad Belfast Cohousing is inviting other cohousers to join the
> workshop. I highly recommend Sociocracy for cohousing communities. I believe
> it's far more effective and fulfilling than consensus decision-making, which
> I taught for years.
> 
> If you're in the New England or Northeast US area (or in Quebec or
> Toronto) I urge you to consider attending Belfast Cohousing's Sociocracy
> workshop. Here's the link:  http://mainecohousing.org
> 
> I just taught an introductory Sociocracy workshop to my community (Earthaven
> Ecovillage in North Carolina), and the people who attended loved the idea of
> trying Sociocracy instead of what we have now: consensus-with-unanimity,
> with no recourse if someone blocks.
> 
> Right on, Belfast Cohousing!
> 
> Diana Leafe Christian
> 
> 
> http://www.DianaLeafeChristian.org
> http://www.EcovillageNews.org
> http://www.Earthaven.org
> 
> _________________________________________________________________
> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at: 
> http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/
> 
> 
> _________________________________________________________________
> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at: 
> http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/
> 
> 


Results generated by Tiger Technologies Web hosting using MHonArc.