Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Objection Versus Extortion

[R.N. Johnson (cohoranda]

I have seen this, particularly in people with little consensus training.  
Sometimes it works to ask the blocker to frame the objection in terms of 
possible harm to the community rather than personal issues. Sometimes it has 
worked to decide on each item separately, if there are a few contentious 
segments that might hold up the rest of the proposal.   I have also worked in 
groups where you could not vote on any proposal if you had not attended the 
information segment where it was discussed, unless you had made the effort to 
talk to someone and get caught up on what the discussion was. No magic bullet, 
sadly.

Randa Johnson
New Brighton Cohousing
Aptos, CA