Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: qualifying a block as legitimate

[Rob Sandelin (floriferous]

At Sharingwood we have a three attempts at consensus then majority vote
option. We have only actually used this option once in a decade. Knowing
that you need to compromise or eventually get outvoted moves things and
generally we are able to get permission for most things once they are
modified.  Notice I said permission, not agreement. In our process Consensus
is giving permission for the group to go ahead, even if you disagree.  When
we seek permission usually we ask something like, if you can give permission
to move ahead with this proposal as it stands show one finger, if you have
questions, issues or concerns, show two fingers.  Then we process the two
fingers and almost always come up with modifications that work.  However,
sometimes the answer to a proposal is no, not necessarily from one person,
but from many. In this case the proposal is either highly modified or
abandoned.  We have no process really of blocking, just modifying. Sometimes
people get confused about applying their personal values to everyone, and
usually this gets pointed out, which usually resolves it, since it is
implied and understood that it is not reasonable to hold everybody hostage
to your values.  As I think back, I can not really remember the last good
controversy we had which did not get worked out.  

Rob Sandelin
Sharingwood Cohousing
Former Consensus facilitation trainer

-----Original Message-----
From: Muriel Kranowski [mailto:murielk [at] vt.edu] 
Sent: Monday, April 06, 2009 6:36 PM
To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
Subject: [C-L]_ qualifying a block as legitimate


This is a topic we are now discussing.  Do any communities require an
announced consensus block to be judged to be valid or legitimate before
allowing it to stand?  I'd be very interested to see anything in your bylaws
or policies about this, or just a description of how you do this kind of
assessing.

Specifically:
  - how do you go about making the decision that the block is/is not
legitimate, ie, what steps are followed and what are your criteria?
  - how does this work out for you in practice, and are you fairly satisfied
with how it works for your community?
  - do you have an over-ride process to deal with a block, or does a block
truly block a proposal?

I'm assuming you have followed good consensus process, have talked at
sufficient length and respectfully with the blocker, and the person won't
withdraw the proposed block, so you have to deal with it.

Thanks!
   Muriel Kranowski
   Shadowlake Village Cohousing
   Blacksburg, VA  

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