Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: decision-making process

[Mary Ann Clark (drmaryann49]

I would second everything Patti is saying. We also took too many years to 
figure out how to use consensus correctly, allowing one or two people to 
highjack the process (the tyranny of the minority). We also hired Laird to help 
us out but it still took us a while to actually follow through on all the 
required steps to make consensus work especially in the face of a resolute 
blocker.

Having well-defined common values is essential as is having the fortitude to 
work the process. It also helped us to require that people who stand aside or 
block articulate their objections in light of those values. This has allowed us 
to resolve some issues in the moment. If a block can't be resolved, we require 
that the blocker (and perhaps allies) put together an alternative that 
incorporates what has come before as well as their own ideas for consideration 
at a future meeting.

Once we figured out what it meant to work the process and resolved to really do 
it, it still took us several messy decisions to actually get good at it.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel. After those few messy decisions we have a 
much more smoothly running process. Consensus is slow. There's always the push to just 
vote and be done with it--which essentially means letting the majority overpower the 
minority. Stick with it and in the end you'll have a good process.

Mary Ann
Manzanita Village where we're waiting for the remnants of the hurricane to 
bring us even more rain

--
The library is a large building filled with books and journals. It functions 
sort of like Google, but deeper.

Mary Ann Clark                                                  drmaryann49 
[at] mac.com
http://homepage.mac.com/drmaryann/index.html     


On Sep 17, 2014, at 06:27 AM, Patricia Lautner <lautnerp [at] jpcohousing.org> 
wrote:

> This is such an exciting time for you! Congratulations.
>
> At JPCohousing in Boston we use the consensus decision making model for our
> plenary meetings. There is one committee that uses sociocracy sometimes
> for their meetings but for the community-wide discussions and decisions, we
> use consensus.
>
> A word of caution: We made it through development and into living together
> for a total of about 6-8 years before we learned that we were not using the
> consensus process 'correctly'. We hired Laird Saub to help us a few years
> back and our understanding and use of the consensus process is 10 times
> better now.
>
> Two points of advice: 1) Consensus does not mean everyone is in agreement;
> rather, it means everyone gives their permission for a decision to move
> forward. 2) Make sure you have a well defined list of common values. This
> will help you IMMENSELY as you begin to make decisions together.
>
> Good luck!
> Patti
> www.communitasdevelopment.com
>
> On Tue, Sep 16, 2014 at 10:11 PM, Alan Weiner <weineralan [at] gmail.com    > 
> wrote:
>
>        >
>        > We are 3 months into starting a co-housing community in western MA.
>        > We will soon be discussing how we will make group decisions.
>        > I don't think we have to reinvent the wheel on this one.
>        > Consensus and sociocracy seem to be common strategies.
>        > What approach(es) would you strongly recommend for consideration? Which
>        > ones should be avoided?
>        > What are good resources?
>        >
>        > Thank you.
>        >
>        > Alan Weiner
>        > Village Hill co-housing
>        > Northampton, MA
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