More on practical consensus w/ Sociocracy

"Majority rule ... automatically creates a minority. This encourages factions and divisiveness rather than harmony. Majority rule encourages people to build strategic alliances and to trade favors rather than to think in terms of the best direction for the organization."

“In a sociocratic organization, each person and each cluster of persons is encouraged, even required, to self organize and to steer their energy toward their shared aims as energetically as possible."

Whereas the discipline of NVC (NonViolent Communication) refers to universal shared "Needs" that we identify first and then steer by, Sociocracy has a similar concept it calls "shared aims".

The following excerpts are from the essay "About Sociocracy" http://www.sociocracy.info/about.html

"Creating More Perfect Organizations

One of the struggles in building effective organizations whether they are associations, businesses, or governments is finding an effective decision-making method. In democratic organizations, majority vote is the accepted standard. Majority rule, however, automatically creates a minority. This encourages factions and divisiveness rather than harmony. Majority rule encourages people to build strategic alliances and to trade favors rather than to think in terms of the best direction for the organization.

In business, decisions are generally made autocratically by the owner or manager or by a Board on behalf of investors. This can lead to poor decisions because those who execute them may not be free to express their views and critical information is thus not available in the decision-making process.

As in majority vote, those who are not included in the decision making may also feel less comitted and thus will not enthusiastically support the organization. Autocratic decision-making also does not encourage leadership.

Sociocracy was developed to correct the deficiencies in both these methods. Sociocratic businesses and organizations set policy by consent and use a governance structure in which each person in the organization is appropriately engaged in making and evaluating the policies that affect their domain of responsibility. Working in self-organizing, semi-autonomous circles, they decide how they will meet the aims of their organization most effectively. This creates more effective, productive, and harmonious organizations -- both businesses and associations."

SELF GOVERNANCE REQUIRES WE ALL BUY-IN
“As individuals we become a group when we decide to do something, to accomplish an aim together: play golf, start a business, eliminate land mines, or live in a home governed by a community association. When we join an existing group we agree to support the aims of the group and to act in accordance with the group's decisions. We agree to follow the rules, to be governed by the rule-makers. “

STEERING BY SHARED AIMS
"To govern" means to steer. Everyone wants an organization with lots of energy but an energetic organization needs good steering so its energy is directed and not dissipated. The analogy used to describe how to design and manage a sociocratic organization is to "steer chaos." To steer, not stifle, energy. Most of us think of chaos as a negative state, but chaos is a very powerful and energetic condition, not to be confused with random or purposeless activity. In chaos, each element is full of energy and freely pursuing its aim without restraint. Free, uninhibited energy creates good conditions for self-organization. “

“In a sociocratic organization, each person and each cluster of persons is encouraged, even required, to self organize and to steer their energy toward their shared aims as energetically as possible. By establishing shared aims, and steering everyone toward them, the sociocratic structure uses all the available energy to move forward quickly and efficiently.”

IN SOCIOCRACY ALL OF US ARE THE RULE-MAKERS
“If it is a sociocratic organization, we become one of the rule-makers. We participate in determining the aims of the organization and of the circle in which we work, or live, or socialize. In sociocracy the definition of aims is directly related to decision-making. Decisions are easier to make when we understand what aims they are intended to fulfill. And if we raise objections, withdraw our consent, this must also be done within the context of the aims of our circle or the organization and our ability to support those aims.”

SOCIOCRACY IS INCLUSIVE
“That sociocracy is based on consent is profound. It affects every aspect of the sociocratic organization because it means that the group cannot move forward if one if its members objects.

WHAT IS A “PARAMOUNT AND REASONED OBJECTION” IN SOCIOCRACY?
“But objections must be "paramount and reasoned.""Paramount means that the objection must be directly related to the person's ability to work effectively within the group. "Reasoned" means the person must be able to explain the objection to other members of the group. Unless they can understand the objection they cannot resolve it. Objections are important in sociocracy because they help the group find better solutions -- solutions that help everyone work more effectively toward the group's aims. An objection is not a veto; it is a valid reason why a particular decision will prevent a member of the group from doing their job or otherwise supporting the aims of the group.”

UNIQUELY FAIR AND WORKABLE
{In Endenburg, the originator of sociocracy's view} none of the familiar forms of decision-making—autocratic, majority vote, supra-majority vote, nor consensus—protected the interests of all stakeholders, investors as well as workers, and all were vulnerable to manipulation. Both production and financial responsibility had to be guaranteed. ...

{Then the} answer hit {Endenburg}: No objections! In the technical sciences, all elements of an operational system work together in the absence of objections, in other words, by consent. If one part of a system is stressed to the point of breaking down, it objects. It stops working and the system stops working. All parts must be able to function in order for a system to function. Unless objections are expressed, consent exists and all goes well.

The principle of consent fulfilled all {consensus} conditions for fair and inclusive self-governance and, most importantly, it allowed people to make decisions together without requiring them to feel love and trust as a prerequisite. Once Endenburg had his first organizing principle, he went on to develop the structure that would govern the making of decisions.

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