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

[Patricia Lautner (lautnerp]

One more point about common values and the consensus process.  If there is
ever 1 person who seems to be the lone voice against something - i.e., the
'blocker', the facilitator should ask the person to please explain to the
group which commonly held value they are protecting by preventing a
decision to be made.  Blocking the will of the community can only happen if
the blocker is protecting a common value.

As a new group, I don't know if you would be very successful practicing the
consensus process unless you've done the work to define and list the values
that your membership hold in common.

Patti - JPCohousing
www.communitasdevelopment.com

On Wed, Sep 17, 2014 at 12:05 PM, Mary Ann Clark <drmaryann49 [at] mac.com>
wrote:

>
> 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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