Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Consensus Training w/ CT Butler

[juliemazo (JMAZO]

Shannon Farm Community in Virginia was my home for 9 years before I
relocated to Massachusetts and joined Pathways CoHousing.  Shannon, born in
the early 70s, was in the mid-90s still trying to smooth out the rough
spots in its consensus decision-making process.  Our invitation to CT
Butler to give a weekend workshop on his "formal consensus" model marked a
turning point in the community's evolution.  We didn't choose to implement
his model in its entirety, but over the next few years continuously
experimented with it, adopting some of its elements and adapting others to
fit our community's unique culture.

In my view, CT's workshop was a critical and invaluable step towards a
saner, less contentious, more productive process;  towards meetings that
were markedly more efficient and more satisfying to more people.  

CT's work is not rigid, but continues to evolve as his vast experience with
consensus groups provides new insights and new possibilities.  I strongly
recommend that your group take this upcoming opportunity to learn from him.
 At the very least, you will gain a rich reservoir of expansive ways to
think about the consensus process.   At best, you will move forward many
miles on the road to developing a process that works well for your community. 

Yours in community,
Julie Mazo