Cohousing-L Mailing List: consensus and the greater good of the group

[Carrie Burmaster (cburmast]

Hi folks: I'm on a committee at Liberty Village that is looking at how we
use consensus.  Our reference point is C.T. Butler's book on Conflict and
Consensus.  My question relates to how you go about deciding whether a
person's concerns about an issue are or are not related to the greater
good of the group or whether they represent individual preference,
possibly leading to that person standing aside. In many cases it is not
clear which it is, and much lengthy discussion ensues.  I'm wondering how
other groups handle this.  Does the decision about whether it is an
individual or group concern become another issue upon which consensus has
to be reached, does the individual him or herself get to determine that,
is there a vote,
etc., etc.

Thanks for your thoughts--

Carrie Burmaster
Liberty Village, where we have 18 and a half partners and are in the
process of changing our legal status to Limited Liability Company.