RE: consensus workshops
From: Rob Sandelin (Floriferousclassic.msn.com)
Date: Sat, 13 Dec 1997 09:58:04 -0600
I would encourage people who are thinking about workshops to look into 
teachers that come from the communities movement such as Caroline Estes, Zev 
Paiss, Ct Butler, Rob Sandelin, Kevin Wolf.  These folks know the differences 
between organizational corporate theory and real world living in community. 
They are very different things. I sat through a really bad workshop on 
consensus once by a person who had all kinds of organizational theory but not 
a shred of practical experience. 

What we do with consensus and group collaboration is much different than what 
happens in the boardroom.  

One of the interesting sidelights of this difference is that I keep hearing 
stories about cohousers and communitarians that move into local organizations 
and end up transmuting them into consensus groups by example and leadership. 
This is really cool, and a major side effect of community.

Rob Sandelin
NICA


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From:   cohousing-l [at] freedom.mtn.org on behalf of ruddick [at] 
mv3195.edison.cc.oh.us
Sent:   Friday, December 12, 1997 4:47 PM
Subject:        re: consensus workshops

        Oberservation: seems to be a problem with professional jargon.
        Noting that several on the list have reported that they hired someone
for a workshop on consensus building and were surprised that what they got was
not about doing productive meetings and getting to a quality solution--
        If you hire someone to do training in "consensus building" then they're
going to focus on defining group values and building teams and cohesiveness.
        If you want to learn how to do meetings that are more efficient and
focused, and to reach higher-quality decisions, then you want to hire someone
to do training in "group problem-solving" or "decision-making" procedures.
        The two types of training are different--and you should probably 
expect highly-paid professionals to respond to the title you give to the
session rather than the goals you might describe for it.
        I speak as a Ph.D. and college professor in communication--I've done
teaching/training in group problem solving, and I've seen how professional
trainers respond to our professional jargon.
        An offer--I'd be willing to do some really cheap workshops in group
problem-solving for coho groups.  It would be a way for me to have closer
contact with the movement (something Dayton, OH currently doesn't offer me).

TR



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