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

[Ann Zabaldo (zabaldo]

Lyle --

Thank you.

You have given voice to issues I have w/ overriding a block.  I was  
especially affected by this statement of yours:

> ... and it seems in my mind that it would pull
> focus from the discovery and learning process around the reasons for  
> the
> block into the mechanics of the override.

My thoughts exactly.

People love consensus when it's easy.  It's when it's hard and there's  
groaning and gnashing of teeth that people get frustrated.  But it's  
exactly at this place where consensus is best used.

The strong suit of consensus is that it includes everyone in the  
decision.  Just when it looks as if there is no answer to a block if  
the group sees the "block" as a possibility for learning and continues  
to think creatively together a "third way" will emerge.  It's  
inevitable when you have that much brain power in the room.

The problem I have w/ back up voting or overriding a block is that it  
takes the process from an egalitarian paradigm where no one person has  
more power than the next to the paradigm where the majority is more  
equal than the minority.

Before people start lobbing things at me please note I'm NOT talking  
about the person who uses blocking as a veto and routinely or even  
semi routinely blocks a decision. That's not a consensus problem.   
That's a group development problem or a social issue.

I think it's well to remember Caroline Estes' rule of thumb:  if you  
have blocked six times you've used up your life time allotment of  
blocks.  So if you  take this "rule" seriously you can see you will  
have very few blocks and the ones you do have will have some weight  
and merit to them.

It's really hard being a "minority of one" -- it's happened to me in  
my community.  In the 15+ years I've been using consensus I've only  
blocked one time.  Now I only have five blocks left ... and at least  
40 more years to live!   :-)

BTW -- I'm getting to where I don't really believe there is such an  
animal as a "block."  It's just another objection to be resolved.  And  
an awful lot of the sturm and drang about consensus could be obviated  
by early and ongoing training for the whole group.  It surprises me  
how many groups read a book on consensus and expect to be able to use  
it.  Sorta like learning to ride a bike by reading a manual.

Thanks to everyone for contributing to this thread regardless of what  
you believe about consensus, blocking, etc.  It's the mix of ideas  
that makes this such an engaging topic.

Best --

Ann Zabaldo
Takoma Village Cohousing
Washington, DC
Principal, Cohousing Collaborative, LLC
McLean, VA
703 663 3911

On Apr 7, 2009, at 11:02 AM, Lyle Scheer wrote:

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> This reflects why I feel somewhat ambivalent to Sharon's description  
> of
> sociocracy.
>
> It seems to key on being a good speaker, and being in a space where  
> you
> feel safe enough to speak, and it puts that onus on the minority with
> the objection, which I feel may sometimes be inappropriate.
>
> It's that particular space... safety and encouragement for the  
> minority
> block that I believe is extremely critical to have good facilitation  
> around.
>
>
> - - Lyle
>
> Rod Lambert wrote:
> > I found Sharon's sociocratic governance description very helpful in
> > understanding how it works, especially on what constitutes reasoned
> > objections.
> >
> > > > 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?
> >
> > We don't have anything in our bylaws but have never overruled an
> > objection.
> >
> > There is a distinction in sociocratic governance that might be  
> > helpful.
> >
> > People may object but may not veto. A block, as I understand it is
> > essentially a veto.
> >
> > An objection must be (1) paramount and (2) reasoned.
> >
> >
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