Consensus (was Affordability?)
From: Becky Weaver (beckyweaverswbell.net)
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2007 14:27:09 -0700 (PDT)
--- Brian Bartholomew <bb [at] stat.ufl.edu> wrote:
 
> Unfortunately, the message
> I'm getting here is that consensus can't be trusted
> for interior
> decoration, much less things impacting personal
> financial survival.

"Consensus" is not a person or organization, that can
be trusted, or not trusted. It is a decision-making
process. 

Well-conducted consensus decision-making processes
work extremely well for important matters, such as
those impacting individuals' financial survival. They
also help build trust among individuals in a group.
Whereas some decision-making processes, such as
majority rule, can undermine trust over time. 

Interior decoration is not terribly important in the
grand scheme of things; and decisions about interior
decoration are probably not best made by consensus.
Often, consensus-based groups consent on some other
way to make interior-decorating type decisions, for
example by selecting a professional interior decorator
to make the choices.  

Interior-decoration type decisions can be changed
without bankrupting anybody; the worst impact a change
could have is that a family might get a countertop or
carpet they don't like. Precisely because this is a
fairly minor consequence (and I say that as a person
who once had to live with a road-sign-orange
countertop), during a time of intense activity, a
functioning consensus-based organziation will probably
push this type of decision to a level that does not
require full community consensus. Thus allowing the
community to focus on the very important,
financial-impact type issues. 

I think that what Sharon was trying to express - and
I'm sure she'll help me out if I'm mistaken - is that
*if* a project aspect such as a van is *not*
considered an important, financial-survival type item,
it might get relegated by the community to
interior-decoration-type status. 

And then it's on the table for budget cuts when push
comes to shove. Which, if the van is not a core
community value, is probably appropriate. If the van
is a core personal value for only a few members, and
the community has to make a hard decision, the van
might have to go for the financial well-being of the
community as a whole. Not because nobody cares or is
untrustworthy; but because the community is struggling
to find a solution that will cause the least harm
overall. 

No decision-making process can keep bad stuff from
happening out there in the big wide world. Prices
rise, clouds rain, and people have to cope somehow. 

Consensus processes only work in groups that have a
common aim. If that aim is "a rural community with a
commuter van" then the van is probably safe. If the
aim is "a rural community with homeschooling and an
appple orchard," the van might be in trouble. 

Becky Weaver
Kaleidoscop Village, Austin, Texas
Where none of our interior decorating decisions are
being made by consensus

___________________________________
A man becomes his attentions. His observations and curiosity, they make and 
remake him.
--William Least Heat Moon

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