Brenna is our wonderful community mentor for this week, and led us on this blueberry picking adventure with young Raven.
Emi in the thick of it, gathering the delicious berries.
This blueberry grove has been there for many decades, while huge development has sprung up around it in recent years. The age and maturity of the bushes means that they bear many, many berries.
After picking berries we dropped by an old farm nearby. Farmer Lawrence is 85 years old and has lived there since he was 11 years old. He and his wife were extremely warm and welcoming, and glad for the company. Notice that this farm exists as well amidst recent expansive development. Also notice that Em discovered purslane in the garden, a delicious edible weed which the farm couple were glad to have us remove.
Consensus
We then spent the afternoon with Brush learning how consensus works. First, we discussed conflict resolution in general. Based on his experience at the farm's Cedar Moon intentional community, Brush suggested some steps to work through when a conflict emerges between two members of a community or organization:
1. Prevent these in the first place by building direct, non-violent communication into everything. Then, if a conflict emerges, those involved may be able to resolve it themselves, by directly discussing the issue together.
2. If they can't work it out, then a third person may be brought in to mediate. If it feels really dicey, those involved in the conflict can each bring along an ally to a meeting with the mediator.
3. If it's still not resolved, a sub-committee or the whole group can address the issue. They can give the larger perspective and resolve the issue with the greater good in mind.
4. If a solution isn't reached that satisfies everyone, one of the people involved may be asked to leave.
So, after discussing that, we moved onto consensus itself. What is consensus? Consensus is a decision-making process that draws on all of the wisdom of a group before coming to a decision, It requires a well-defined group of people who are committed to something that is growing over time. It can often take a long time to implement, but may ultimately save time and energy for the group; the consensus process is thorough, so all the members of a group may have a high sense of trust and commitment to the decisions that are made, therefore giving a stronger basis for efficient implementation.
Here's a rundown of how a consensus-run meeting may go:
- Begin by identifying group roles, the key being the facilitator
- Have a go-around to check in with how everyone's doing
- Review the meeting agenda
- For each agenda item, identify the problem
- Discuss the problem
- Someone presents a proposal for resolving the problem
- Ask for clarifying questions about the proposal
- Discuss the proposal generally, or any specific concerns
- Call for consensus: people can either support the proposal, stand-aside, or block it. Standing aside means that you have reservations, but don't feel the need to block the decision. Blocking generally means you feel the block violates something essential to the group and shouldn't pass. A proposal passes if there are no blocks. If there are stand-asides, it's good to discuss the reasons. If the proposal is blocked, the group may discuss the problem or simply move on to another issue.
- Repeat the above few steps as necessary
- Close the meeting by doing an evaluation or check-out of how it went
Here are some roles that people may play in a consensus meeting:
- Vibes watcher: pay attention to the mood of the group and bring it up if the the mood is getting in the way of the discussion.
- Time keeper: keep track of the time for agenda items, etc.
- Stacker: As people raise their hands to speak, keep track of what the speaking order is by keeping a mental or written "stack."
- Doorkeeper: greet late arrivals, catch them up to speed, etc.
- Notetaker: take notes for the meeting.
- Scribe: write notes or ideas on a board if necessary.
As mentioned, the most important role to play is that of the facilitator. A group empowers the facilitator to pay attention to and direct the group process so that others can focus on the decisions at hand. Here are some of the things a facilitator may do:
- Call on people to speak
- Make sure the discussion is staying on track
- Step in if comments are inappropriate for the issue at hand
- Weave the discussion; summarize people's comments in a way that makes it easier to understand where the discussion is going as a whole
- Evaluate whether everyone's voice is being heard equally, and ask people to step forward or back
To really understand how to put consensus into practice it's really good to see it in action. We were able to try it out during our time with Brush, playing with an imaginary dramatic scenario. Keep in mind though: consensus is to some extent about people letting go of their prior opinions and giving themselves to the greater wisdom of the whole group. It's a much different style of thinking than most of us in the U.S. are used to. With practice, many people find it to be a very empowering, natural way to function as a group.
Check out this site for more info.
After an intensive afternoon of learning consensus, it was time to relax:
-Nick
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