Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Sociocracy and blocking

[drmaryanngroups (drmaryanngroups]

Here at Manzanita Village we use consensus with a super-majority voting fall 
back.

It's taken some time and some work to use this process effectively. We use to 
be paralyzed when someone blocked--or threatened to block--a decision. Without 
a way to clear blocks we were at the mercy of a small majority.

We now use a process (which we've had all along!) that requires that 1) blocks 
be tied to our mission/values, 2) we attempt to clear the block "in the 
moment," 3) if a block can't be resolved easily, blocker(s) have to put 
together a counter-proposal that satisfies their concerns while meeting the 
needs of the rest of the community. We have a three-step process (given to us 
by Laird) and a second three-step process for resolving blocks. It can be slow 
and laborious but we managed to come up with good decisions.

We had one year where several decisions were subjected to this process and we 
worked out the kinks. Blocks were resolved in both directions--in some cases 
the original decision or a variant of it stood, in other cases blocker(s) 
brought forward a better proposal that was accepted by the community.

Since then blocking has been less frequent as the community tries to work 
together to reach a decision we can all live with before the decision is 
brought forward for a community decision. Getting all the issues on the table 
before we call for consensus has been a big improvement to the process.

Mary Ann
at Manzanita Village where I know it's spring when the ravens begin their 
mating flights over our valley


On Apr 18, 2012, at 8:57 PM, Richart Keller wrote:

> 
> 
> 
> I wonder how many (and which) communities currently have consensus with no
> recourse if someone blocks? 
> 
> Whether or not they do have such recourse (and I suspect that most do, at
> least on paper) in the rare cases where someone "blocks" an important
> decision, it may be important for the community to spend the time giving
> extra consideration to the concerns expressed for several reasons:
> 
>       1. to be clear that there is a thorough community-wide understanding
> of the basis for the concern so that the outcome is well-
> grounded--including in its rational and emotional dimensions, 
>       2. by such consideration, to acknowledge and respect the consensus
> process, and
>       3. to use the opportunity to strengthen relationships within the
> community. 
> 
> A healthy community should be a continuing, central goal in any
> decision-making process.
> 
> As someone who has grown up with, excercised, and facilitated consensus and
> consenus-like decision making, I have certainly experienced the frustration
> and sometimes seemingly inordinate time required to make an important
> decision.  At the same time, I know from experience that successful
> communities are in it "for the long haul" and that the learning and
> relationship-building that goes on in almost all cases benefits the
> community and the individuals in it.  The pressures to make efficient
> decisions are powerful, but we must not let them over-ride the movement
> toward a peaceful and just world. 
> 
> In community
> 
> Rick
> 
> 
> 
> Richart Keller, AICP
> Pioneer Valley Cohousing
> 120 Pulpit Hill Road #25
> Amherst, MA 01002
> 413-835-0011
> 401 486-2677 (cell)
> (richart.keller [at] gmail.com)
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Fred H Olson [mailto:fholson [at] cohousing.org] 
> Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2012 12:09 PM
> To: Cohousing-L mailing list
> Subject: [C-L]_ Sociocracy Workshop in Maine
> 
> 
> 
> Diana Leafe Christian <diana [at] ic.org>
> is the author of the message below.  It was posted by
> Fred, the Cohousing-L list manager <fholson [at] cohousing.org> after 
> restoring
> subject line from "digest" and deleting quoted digest. Digest subscribers,
> Please try to remember to do this.  Fred
> --------------------  FORWARDED MESSAGE FOLLOWS -------------------- Re
> Sociocracy workshop at Belfast Cohousing
> 
> Hello,
> 
> I'm so glad the folks at Belfast Cohousing (many of whom I've met and like a
> lot) are going to learn the Sociocracy governance and decision- making
> method in their  April 27-29 workshop with John Buck. John is the man who
> learned to read Dutch so he could write about it in English, in the book We
> the People, which he co-authored with Sharon Villines.
> 
> AND I'm so glad Belfast Cohousing is inviting other cohousers to join the
> workshop. I highly recommend Sociocracy for cohousing communities. I believe
> it's far more effective and fulfilling than consensus decision-making, which
> I taught for years.
> 
> If you're in the New England or Northeast US area (or in Quebec or
> Toronto) I urge you to consider attending Belfast Cohousing's Sociocracy
> workshop. Here's the link:  http://mainecohousing.org
> 
> I just taught an introductory Sociocracy workshop to my community (Earthaven
> Ecovillage in North Carolina), and the people who attended loved the idea of
> trying Sociocracy instead of what we have now: consensus-with-unanimity,
> with no recourse if someone blocks.
> 
> Right on, Belfast Cohousing!
> 
> Diana Leafe Christian
> 
> 
> http://www.DianaLeafeChristian.org
> http://www.EcovillageNews.org
> http://www.Earthaven.org
> 
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> 

--
A complex system that does not work is invariably found to have evolved from a 
simpler system that worked just fine.

Mary Ann Clark                                                  drmaryann49 
[at] mac.com
Check out DrMaryAnn's Academy at http://drmaryann.wordpress.com/