Tag: Consent Consensus

Conflict Resolution: Strategies vs Trust

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When connecting around needs and empathizing with feelings is going on, people don’t get hung up on strategies. Why not table discussion of strategies until there is universal agreement that all parties fully and deeply understand and appreciate each other’s feelings and needs? Then strategies need not be points of conflict—but points of creativity to find solutions that work for all. Strategies vs trust In the first sociocratic organization, Kees and Betty Boeke’s Children’s Community… Read More . . . “Conflict Resolution: Strategies vs Trust”

Consensus, Compromise, or Pay Off?

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Payoffs and Other Slimy Deals The board of a wildlife federation reaches consensus on a plan to save a threatened wild bird’s habitat. Then they delete the budget for legal action. A Senate committee unanimously recommends legislation after adding amendments for unrelated items. They gave each Senator something they wanted. A bike trail organization stops protesting a new parking lot when it was promised a wider bike path. Is this the same kind of push and pull that is required… Read More . . . “Consensus, Compromise, or Pay Off?”

Sociocracy’s Achilles Heel

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Painting of infant Achilles being dipped in the river Trump, Trumpism, and Trumpist In the winter, I promised to write more about Donald Trump as a democratic leader (already a difficult leap) and how things would differ in a government based on the Sociocratic Circle Method (SCM) of organization. A series of compare-and-contrast analyses that would illustrate the ways in which a sociocratic democracy would prevent or disable a Trumpist government. The  24/7 television news channels have been and still are a daily deluge… Read More . . . “Sociocracy’s Achilles Heel”

When to Use Consent and Consensus Decision-Making?

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Graphic drawing of the 5Ws plus H. The Five W's — who, what, where, when, why — are determined by policy and require consent. The 6th W, How, is delegated to the operations leader who implements policy to achieve the purpose of the circle. In sociocracy, consent and consensus decision-making are only used for policy decisions. Policy decisions are those that govern actions and allocation of resources (budget, people, etc.). But this leaves questions for many people—what other decisions are there? The distinction is clearer if you look at policy decisions vs. operations decisions. Operations decisions are the day-to-day moment-to-moment activities that implement policies. Operations decisions are normally made autocratically by the leader or by an individual who has… Read More . . . “When to Use Consent and Consensus Decision-Making?”

Policy Decisions

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In order to ensure equality and freedom, the core democratic values, sociocracy requires that policy decisions be made with the consent of those delegated to implement them. Policy decisions are confusing to many people because as citizens and employees, we are rarely asked to make them. Policy decisions are those that determine how we will act in the future. How will we do this? What will guide our actions? A policy decision tells us how… Read More . . . “Policy Decisions”

Consensus and Personal Preferences

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Personally I object to the use of the word “block” as synonymous with “objection” and this entry explains some of the reasons why. What is a block? This is not a facetious question. If this is the word people want to use, what does it mean? From the accounts on the Cohousing-L email discussion list between cohousing communities that  uniformly use consent/consensus decision-making, block is used to describe an objection is more a veto. The… Read More . . . “Consensus and Personal Preferences”