Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Sociocracy (response to "blocking consensus" and long)

[Sheila Braun (sheila.braun]

Hi Michael.

> Reframing, a consensus-friendly question would be, "What shall
> we do about having a swimming pool?"  With that question,
> there are hundreds of different answers and thus many options
> for a solution that will work for everyone.
>
As a matter of fact, that is just the kind of question we avoid in General
Circle meetings--though of course not throughout the organization. It's a
brainstorming question (a "doing" question as opposed to a "deciding"
question, to use some sociocracy terminology) and will be followed by hours
of talk, the bigger the group the more the talk--and the bigger the group
the more likely it will be that some people sitting there aren't really
interested & are fidgeting & feeling impatient. I know that some proponents
of consensus would argue that the people who don't care that much about it
*should* care & so should be present for the discussion, but in our
structure we allow people to opt out of decisions that they're comfortable
leaving in others' hands. We want to conserve people's energy, especially
during this time in our development.

We would say that such a question would be appropriate in a meeting of
"people interested in discussing a swimming pool for our community."

The reason for our distinction between "doing/brainstorming/working" and
"deciding" is that you are correct, hundreds of different answers can (and
will) be brought forward with a "how" question, and we would get little else
done in that business meeting. Our business meetings take place with the
assumption that these questions were asked and answered elsewhere, in a
forum that results in a succinct, clear proposal for the whole group to
review.

Sheila
Champlain Valley Cohousing
www.champlainvalleycohousing.org
Charlotte, Vermont

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