Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: A consensus question.

[Shava Nerad (shava]

What Michael said...;)

But a note -- I think people have an idealized idea of what consensus is.
It's a hard road, and one that requires some common underlying assumptions.
Consensus seems to work best in groups with an established "groupmind" and
strong common culture.

I have seen a number of groups (proto-cohousing, collectives, boards of
directors of nonprofits) who have tried to operate under consensus without
having the time and energy (or sometimes facilities -- imagine a 9 person
board meeting on a conference call trying to work toward consensus!  It
cost over $1500, I think!!!!) to work thru all the groundwork of communications
necessary.

Here's a few questions:  Are you totally clear *why* your group wants
to work by consensus?  Are you sure it's an appropriate governance tool?
If you are a proto-group, might you wait until you are more firmly coalesced
before you adopt this structure -- or do you think it will help you grow
to know each other?  Will you be able to operate at all effectively with
consensus?  Have you considered having a workshop or some required reading
for new members?  Have any groups here tried working with consensus and 
backed away?

I think having a co-housing community I was actually living in would be one
of the few contexts I've worked within that would be *appropriate* for
working with consensus.  We'd be working and living with the same set of
people, circumstances, environment, (ideally) goals, and so on.

Hoping to be there someday!
Shava