Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Formal Consensus vs Sociocracy

[eileen mccourt (emccourt]

Hi, 

I am not suggesting establishing "rules" in the moment.  What I meant to say
is that the methods of dealing with a block or impasse in the moment are
various.  We can decide from several options - do we need to step back and
look at the problem in a different way, or has that already been done?
Should we have more time for the community to discuss, or has that been
played out?  If there is disagreement about whether or not enough has been
done to address the concerns of the blocker, then more will be done.  

If there is general agreement that all reasonable efforts to meet concerns
have already been attempted, with the full engagement of the blocker, then
we have to decide as a group whether everyone can agree to delegate it to a
smaller group, such as the board, or should we vote?.  If we vote, the vote
would be taken at a later time, with the opportunity for everyone to vote,
and a simple majority of those who participate in the vote would be the
deciding factor.  This has all been discussed and agreed to by the community
in advance.  

The bar is set high for voting, and it would take a lot of effort to get to
the place that having a vote was the only way to resolve an impasse.  So
far, at OCC, a potential blocker has stood aside or an issue has been
delegated to the board.  We have not taken a formal vote as yet.  I agree
that, ideally, there would never be a need to vote, and that's the appeal of
the sociocracy method of dealing with an impasse.

Eileen McCourt
Oak Creek Commons
Paso Robles, CA



-----Original Message-----
From: Racheli Gai [mailto:racheli [at] sonoracohousing.com] 
Sent: Friday, April 06, 2007 6:44 AM
To: Cohousing-L
Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Formal Consensus vs Sociocracy

I very much agree with Tree that deciding IN THE MOMENT about a block
(without a rule/guideline to go by) is not a good idea.
All too often, at a time when someone withholds consent, there is lots 
of tension
and even polarization.  This isn't a good time to create rules, but 
rather to fall
on pre-determined ones (which were pondered, discussed and consensed on
previously).

Racheli.

On Apr 5, 2007, at 8:31 PM, Tree Bressen wrote: