Pet Policies & Changing Policies
From: Sharon Villines (sharonsharonvillines.com)
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2015 05:27:19 -0700 (PDT)
A woman in the sociocracy discussion group at the cohousing conference asked 
about people who join being able to change policies. The group has a pet policy 
but the new person wants it changed. My response was that policies are always 
open for reconsideration. The answer was too short and I’m hoping she or 
someone one is on the list from that group to share this with her.

In sociocracy, all decisions are up for review on a regular basis, and sooner 
than planned if circumstance or information changes. With pet policies this can 
be very uncomfortable. People who are afraid of dogs or don’t want cats pooping 
in their gardens, view those who insist on dogs running free and cats not be 
punished by being kept indoors as incompatible. Both sides want to put their 
foot down and once down, to keep it there. 

Feet are put down for reasons. "I want this” is not the reason the decision was 
made (usually). It is made “because.” It’s the “because" that needs to be 
addressed, not the decision that dogs or cats are not allowed be outside 
off-leash.

A new person in the group, or wanting to join the group, who wants to change a 
policy, must address the objections that led to the policy in the first place. 
And have their own objections addressed. The process is one of finding 
solutions, not closing off options. Options will be closed off in either case, 
but they will be closed off for reasons, not a vetoing "I don’t want this.”

And consent is primary. You can’t join my group and change a policy that I’ve 
consented to without addressing my objections. 

To repeat a story—we had a new person join our almost 15-year-old community who 
wanted to change a lot of things. All good and well. We needed to refresh 
things a bit. But she didn’t want to hear about why things were the way they 
were. She just wanted to “start from scratch with no preconceptions.” The 
problem was that 85+ people all had preconceptions. Many had 15 years of 
preconceptions. And we liked most of them. If she and we wanted to change 
things, we would have to examine the because. She didn’t want to deal with 
that. She just wanted to tell us what would be better.

Things don’t just get the way they are for no reason. Passively or actively, 
people have consented to have them that way. Those who don’t know history are 
bound to repeat it.

So policies are always subject to change but the reasons for the current policy 
need to be understood and objections on all sides resolved before the policy 
can be changed.

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines
Sociocracy: A Deeper Democracy
http://www.sociocracy.info


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