Cohousing-L Mailing List: consensus & diversity (WAS affordable cohousing)

[Fred-List manager (fholson]

Eris Weaver <eris [at] erisweaver.info>
is the author of the message below.  It was posted by
Fred, the Cohousing-L list manager <fholson [at] cohousing.org>
due to a format problem

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It is not uncommon to hold values that are actually contradictory to each
other…both as individuals and as groups.

Examples:

·        We want our units to be affordable, but also have as many
green/sustainable features as possible – which jacks up the price.

·        We want our units to be affordable…but we also all want to have a
lot of personal space (extra bedroom, office, etc) which ups the cost.

·        We want to do everything by consensus…we don’t like to deal with
conflict…but we say we want as much diversity as possible.

Consensus works best when folks have clearly stated and shared values. The
more diversity in a group, the more challenging it is to achieve consensus
and there will be more conflict/tension.

I have an excellent article somewhere (don’t have time right now to dig it
out and cite it) about a very diverse social justice coalition that finally,
exhausted from trying to achieve consensus on things, found great relief by
going back to majority voting!

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Eris Weaver, Graphic Facilitator & Group Process Consultant
Founding member, FrogSong cohousing in Cotati, CA
eris [at] erisweaver.info • 707-338-8589 •
http://www.erisweaver.info

“On days when you have no ideas at all, the best thing you can do is start
doodling.” Charles M. Schulz



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