Q: How many communities out there have switched from a unanimous decision-making process to one where there is a real desire for every voice to be heard but if a community becomes stuck and a unanimous decision cannot be reached another method is employed. Response: Firstly, the consensus process is not about reaching unanimous decisions.... Read More

Most of us join a cohousing community with little experience of consensus. We find the ideas of shared decision-making quite appealing, but we don’t really know how to do it. So we read books and blogs and attend conferences and workshops and we try to find our way. Somewhere along the line most groups write... Read Mo

Thanks to Yana Ludwig for an excellent WebChat introduction to consensus. You can read a short summary below and see the full session at this link: https://youtu.be/Uvbia2QJjEk Yana gave us a brief introduction to consensus and reminded us that this is just a beginning. Becoming skilled in consensus is a journey over years. As a... Read More

The following question was asked on a WebChat on Oct 18, 2018. We didn’t have time to answer it there, so Karen is offering the answer here. Question: Is there a way to get folks who are extremely focused on “getting a lot done” — especially leaders/facilitators who make very packed meeting agendas down to... Read More

This fall The Cohousing Association is rolling out another great opportunity to learn about cohousing. We will be hosting sessions with process and facilitation professionals to share their expertise and answer your questions. We hope you will take advantage of this no-cost opportunity to receive support from your greater cohousing community. Each session will be... Read More

Not all topics are created equal. In the context of cooperative culture, some topics are much tougher to get at than others. Here are half a dozen that I encounter regularly. These are by no means all, but they’re representative. If your group consistently handles any two of these well, you’re way ahead of the... Read More

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 about when to use consent and consensus decision-making. It helps to look at policy decisions v, operations decisions. Operations decisions are the... Read More

Today I’m blowing on the coals of an exchange I had right before Thanksgiving with my friend, who offered the reflections below on my blog of Nov 20, 2016 Defining Cooperative Culture. As I am taking a few days off work, I thought I would comment on your latest very interesting blog. I think you... Re