Cohousing-L Mailing List: RE: Making changes in our decisions

[Rob Sandelin (floriferous]

Once you live together for awhile, say about 5 years or so, the need to
change things dramatically reduces to the point where you really can have no
process at all. If somebody wants to change things, they make a proposal. If
the community agrees (consents in our case) then its changed. If the
community does not agree, then the original decision stands. This comes up
rarely  enough that its a non issue for a group as old as ours, and has
never been much of an issue even in the last 7-8 years. If a person came in
determined that they were going to change x,y and z they would quickly
realize that only if EVERYBODY wants to change it, does it happen, and they
usually grow out of such behavior, since they most often fail to change it
to their satisfaction. Or they leave in frustration which means cooperative
living did not work for them, they wanted things their way, and it aint
gunna happen.

Forming groups are most susceptible to this problem, and so having a process
of validation is useful, eg, 25% agree to reopen the decision or some such
thing. I would say 75% is bit on the high side and would actually discourage
people from attempting to change even those things that might be desirable
to review and rethink.

Rob Sandelin
South Snohomish County at the headwaters of Ricci Creek
Sky Valley Environments  <http://www.nonprofitpages.com/nica/SVE.htm>
Field skills training for student naturalists
Floriferous [at] msn.com


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