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

[Tree Bressen (tree]

Thanks Sheila for answering all these questions!

>Yes, this degree of power to a facilitator is scary. But these facts balance
>things out: 1) you can always bring a counter proposal; and 2) you consented
>to the facilitator, which implies that you trusted him or her, and next
>election (or before then, if you feel strongly) you can elect someone else.

Does the "election" use sociocratic methods, or is it voting, or ?

How long is the term?  Does the facilitator facilitate all meetings during
their term?  What if a topic comes up that they are too attached about?

>I think it's critical. In consensus, is there an agreed-upon definition of
>"harm to the community"?

In the strand of consensus that i've been taught, the interpretation of
appropriate blocking is quite narrow.  Even perceived or feared harm to the
community is insufficient grounds for blocking.  Groups have to be able to
take risks, and to act out a mission that is beyond the specifics of any
particular member.  So for a block to be appropriate, the level of
perceived harm must be very high, nearly catastrophic, and based on
something that is part of what that group is about.  Normally with this
kind of thing, once someone states the reason for the block, there is an
immediate recognition by others of its "rightness"--if that is absent then
it's worth questioning whether the block was appropriate.  If one has
unresolved concerns that fall short of this high standard, and the group
has moved through discussion to a point of making a decision, then the
proper place to locate oneself in the consensus structure is to formally
stand aside from the decision.

>Sociocracy as we practice it has many "aikido moves." You don't fight: you
>yield, but in such a way that success depends on the person with the request
>following through in a very specific way. It is amazing to me how many times
>this takes the teeth right out of a conflict with very little fuss--and even
>more amazing how often the person with the request feels happy simply to
>have been heard & has no need to follow through after that.

I love this aspect of putting responsibility for things back onto the
participants, that sounds great.  Though i do think it depends on everyone
having solid training in how to get things done within the method,
otherwise there would be problems with unequal power distribution.

>> >next you have the functional leader (in
>> >our case, project coordinator), who guides & assists the General Circle
>to
>> >make decisions about day-to-day operations.
>>
>> This position seems extremely important, and i don't think there is an
>> analogous role in consensus-based structures.  I mean there might be
>> someone in charge of a particular project, but there is no Leader at most
>> cohousing communities.  Can you say more about this role?
>
>I have read something to the effect that there are leadership roles in
>cohousing but no leaders. I don't confess to understand that statement,
>although I do understand that in inhabited cohousing a strong leader could
>be a problem.

I assume what the statement means is that power is invested in a functional
role, not in a person, and also that no one person is in charge of the
whole shebang.  Power is shared as people rotate through steering councils
or whatever the highest part of the governance hierarchy is in that
community.  Of course there are always power differences in any group,
people have varying amounts of charisma, articulateness, and so on.  Every
group has members that are more widely respected than others.  But
community-oriented structures try to balance things out and prevent any one
person from holding too much sway over the group.  I'm not sure if my
statements here make it more clear or not. . . .

Recently someone called our house to check out the possibility of living
here and one of the first questions they asked was "Who's in charge?"  My
housemate answered, "We all are."  I felt really good about that, since one
of my fears is that as a strong personality myself i'll have too much power
in my home community.

>To answer your question about rationale. This role is inhabited by a single
>person because it's just easier to run the organization that way. With a
>project coordinator, the professionals we hire, the committee chairs (many
>of whom are new to the organization), and the outside world in general know
>who they can contact for guidance or for answers to their questions. It's
>really just a point-person and organizing role. How can you develop
>cohousing without having somebody in that position?

OK, now i get it more, you are talking about a specific role during the
development phase.  I think that's very different than how things are once
the place is built.  This is not my area of expertise, but my impression is
that different communities in development handle this in different ways,
for example, some communities have a committee to handle that stuff (such
as Sharingwood's "Emergency Bullshit Committee") rather than one person.
Or in some groups, i imagine that committee chairs consult the whole group
when necessary, potential recruits are routed to an outreach committee, a
legal committee deals with permitting, while a design committee liaisons
with the architects and builders.

>The more I get to know sociocracy, the less "powerful," however, this
>functional leadership role seems to be. For one thing, the functional leader
>takes marching orders from the Top Circle (which may be chaired by somebody
>else) and can be removed by the Top Circle. For another, as I get more
>practiced at it, it becomes more and more of a service-oriented role.

If that's your attitude then it sounds like you are probably a great choice
for the job!

Cheers,

--Tree



-----------------------------------------------

Tree Bressen
1680 Walnut St.
Eugene, OR 97403
(541) 484-1156
tree [at] ic.org
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