[eekosmembers] Re: Excellent article on concensus decision making
- From: "Don" <dyates@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <eekosmembers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2007 08:55:28 -0700
I agree that this is an excellent article. Of course, as you would expect
from me, there are some things you need to consider:
1. Their definition of consensus is more a definition of unanimity.
Consensus really means agreement to move forward with a decision. It does
not mean agreement on the base question. I think the most important section
of this piece is the "When we cannot agree." Here you see a better meaning
of consensus.
2. The section on why not majority voting is overblown. Many groups of
"equal" individuals use this method. I know of one school where everyone is
completely equal that uses majority rule and has strong objections to
consensus. Part of this is because they really define consensus as
unanimity.
3. One of the founders of this school wrote a paper in which he described
the process for good majority voting. As far as I am concerned it is the
same as described here and by others as consensus.
4. Their problem with consensus is that one person or a minority can hold up
the group whether they have any basis or not. This is why the section here
on "When we cannot agree" is very important. Actually, I think it defines
the various ways people participate in consensus decision making. I have
mixed feelings on the veto. On one hand, I think that if someone has that
much objection the group needs to take it seriously. On the other hand it
can be used to hijack the process. Whether to have it or not is itself a
decision the group must make when defining their process for decision
making.
5. Remember that this is a process for making a decision when it requires a
group to make it. There are different kinds of decisions and a process for
deciding who needs or can make the decision. I have material on these that
we can look at when it seems right to do so.
I am a great believer in this method, but you do have to think about all
aspects of it. I think this article addresses most of them, but is too
simplistic. It is a good introduction to the idea, but not deep enough to
use as a complete guide. This is not surprising for such a place on a
website.
Hope this all makes sense.
Don
_____
From: eekosmembers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:eekosmembers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Kevin Ison
Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2007 4:52 AM
To: Members email list
Subject: [eekosmembers] Excellent article on concensus decision making
http://seedsforchange.org.uk/free/consens
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Kevin Ison
eekos Limited
The Old Hackfall
Grewelthorpe
HG4 3BW
Company Number - 5504935
www.eekos.com
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