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Sociocracy articles and videos
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Comparing Robert’s Rules and Sociocracy: How Consent Decision-Making Solves Some Problems From Parliamentary Procedure
Self-Organization – a leap into the unknown
Hager Homestead Case Study
Educating the Village – embedding sociocracy in a cohousing community
Sociocracy in nonprofits (presentation)
How fast do you want to go?
Sociocracy and Justice, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (Kate Whittle, Marcelino Sepulveda)
National, regional and local chapters – expanding sociocracy
Self-organization – A leap into the unknown
Clarity and empowerment: What is a domain?
Sociocracy meets Listening At Scale
Reiterating Sociocratic Models for Culturally-Competent Inclusion, Accessibility, Accountability, and Transparency (Sophie Xu)
The use of sociocracy in Unicorn Grocery
Conflict as a tension to steer by
Using Sociocracy to Create & Direct Economic Resources at the Community Level (Linda Black)
Practicing co-regulation during Meetings
Representation of those most impacted by decisions: Tools for when impact exceeds circle roles (Deborah Chang, Sofie Malm, Hanna Fischer)
The promise and the challenge: how does sociocracy contribute to diversity and inclusion? (Sheella Mierson and Ocie Irons)
So, you want to practice sociocracy with children? (Hope Wilder)
Sociocracy in Big Data: A case study with Hertzler Systems
5 Ways you’re already using restorative practices
Lazy Consent: Care and Power
Leadership without hierarchy – how to be a good leader
Small Steps — Introducing Sociocracy in an Established Food Co-op by Andy Grant and Alexander Davidson Carroll
The problem of numbers: How does sociocracy work for large cooperatives? Ted Rau
Beyond Fair Shares: A Sociocratic UK Cooperative Society – Nathaniel Whitestone
Analyzing the power (harmful and/or generative) dynamics in your team – Rebecca Fisher-McGinty
Introducing en route sociocratic elements to a radical worker cooperative – Orestis Varkarolis
Designing sociocratic co-op structures in the UK – Mark Simmonds
Creating the climate where Sociocratic principles can thrive. 6 months in the life of “Building OUT” – Abi Handley
Introduction articles
Most recent
Comparing Robert’s Rules and Sociocracy: How Consent Decision-Making Solves Some Problems From Parliamentary Procedure
The word democracy comes from the Greek “demos”, and is the shared rule of the people. The original meaning of democracy is a very large umbrella, of which majority rules is only one subset. Sociocracy, on the other hand, derives from “socios,” and means “the rule of the associates.” Sociocracy is one form of democracy as it could be, based on consent. When I heard about sociocracy, I fell in love with the idea that decisions were made by consent, taking into consideration the voices of everyone affected by the decision. The idea that the minority would have a say in the outcome of decisions was very appealing to me as I had seen decisions where so many people were left unhappy with the results.
Self-Organization – a leap into the unknown
There are organizations, and in them people, who will never see the value in involving employees in shared governance. There are those who, although they feel the growing discomfort of working ‘in the old way’, remain full of fears and doubts about the incomprehensible concept of self-organization. Self-organization is a set of meta-processes: how to decide together, how to divide the areas of responsibility and decision-making, how to jointly create and develop ourselves and the organization thanks to ubiquitous feedback. With preparation and the right skills, techniques, and tools, transitioning to self-organization can be an empowering experience.
Hager Homestead Case Study
Hager Homestead is a community in Littleton, Massachusetts (United States) working to form the first 55+ cohousing community in New England. They anticipate construction to begin in 2021, with move-in planned for 2022. Their Vision and Values statement says,“We are a community of active older adults committed to living sustainably on the earth, creating a beautiful place to live, and nourishing the body and soul. We embrace diversity as vital to a flourishing community. We value lifelong learning and personal growth. We care about and support one another, balancing independence and mutual concern. We strive to be compassionate and respectful in our relationships. We look for opportunities to celebrate, engage with the world, and have fun!”
Educating the Village – embedding sociocracy in a cohousing community
How do you train a cohousing group in sociocracy, including new members? This forming cohousing community shares how they get everyone up to speed.
Sociocracy in nonprofits (presentation)
Despite best intentions, many non-profits still copy the hierarchical structures of corporate businesses and replicate the power systems that are contributing to the societal issues we see. How could nonprofits benefit from self-organization and shared power?
Otherness
We Are the OtherPart I of the series "Hints Towards a Liberation Sociocracy".It was the word that came first...That which the first gods spoke,the oldest of them all,the ones who gave birth to the world... Since time immemorial, people have sat around the fire...
How fast do you want to go?
Are self-management tools like sociocracy and Holacracy slow and bureaucratic? Or are they fast and agile?
National, regional and local chapters – expanding sociocracy
This article shows how sociocratic circle structures of small, nested, linked circles can connect while keeping each group and each meeting meaningful while making sure information and services can flow through the organization. In addition to standard sociocratic tools of linked circles, this article also makes use of two additional tools: the function of a help desk and the function of a community of practice.
Self-organization – A leap into the unknown
Self-organization - a leap into the unknown ‘What?! Self-organization ?! What is self-organization? We have already practiced socialism in this country and it did not work for us. What are you proposing to us here? ‘ - such a comment was given to me by a colleague...
Clarity and empowerment: What is a domain?
Domains combine clarity with flexibility, small groups with big picture thinking and alignment, empowerment of groups and individuals with responsibility. It’s a design pattern that we can use indefinitely – with a place for everything and everything in its place.
Sociocracy meets Listening At Scale
Wise Democracy tools serves deliberation and input, sociocracy serves decision-making and implementation. Here’s how they can be combined.
The use of sociocracy in Unicorn Grocery
Unicorn Grocery, a sociocratic study case What is Unicorn Grocery? Unicorn Grocery is a thriving worker-owned, values-driven grocery co-op in Chorlton, Manchester, UK. They consist of 71 members who all work within the cooperative and are also the directors of the...
Conflict as a tension to steer by
Conflict as a tension to steer by The unwritten rules in many groups are clear: Be nice, avoid conflict at all costs and, if a conflict arises, see it as a “personal problem” of one perhaps problematic individual. In sociocracy, we have the opportunity to see things...
Practicing co-regulation during Meetings
Our reaction to what life brings before us cannot always be predicted but a dose of self-knowledge can help. In this article, I will go through aspects of the nervous system, and how we can support each other in creating safer environments in our groups for practicing...
Representation of those most impacted by decisions: Tools for when impact exceeds circle roles (Deborah Chang, Sofie Malm, Hanna Fischer)
Are we making decisions that are affecting more people than are in the room? How can we be more careful about representation? In this session, we will give examples of situations where decisions are affecting a broader group of people. We will offer tools to support us being more inclusive in the decision-making process.
