Category: Leadership and Self-Organization
Sociocratic principles and practices are based on each individual developing leadership skills and sharing the responsibilities of power and decision-making that democracy lacks. What is leadership? How do we all become leaders? How do we support leaders? How does leadership depend on followership?
At FreeStandingAgility.com, Daniel Mezick has compiled an intriguing list of books that discuss various approaches to changing cultures. All organizationsThe Delibrative Democracy Consortium (DDC)u is an alliance o... More develop a culture, a common language and ways of doing things. They communicate in specific ways, share common behavioral expectations, and value similar values. These are not always positive or even productive. Even when they stand in the way of effectiveness and harmony, they persist. Culture… Read More . . . “The Definitive List of Culture Hacking Books” Today I completed a post on organizational structure that I began writing in 2010 on “The Tyranny of Structurelessness,” an article by Jo Freeman published in various versions from 1971-1973. She discussed the problems with the women’s movement in the late 1960s and 70s that began to believe that structurelessness in and of itself was an organizational ideal that would solve the problems of autocratic rule and the exclusion of women and minorities. She defines… Read More . . . “Organizational Structure and Equality” In decision-making, one consents or one objects. Consent is defined as no objections. To object means no consent It’s very simple.
Consent has no modifiers so why should objections? No one asks for paramount or principled consent.
What would paramount consent be? Would we ask, “Are you consenting because this proposed action is the most important thing in the world right now?”
Do we examine the basis on which people are consenting? No, we don’t.… Read More . . . “Objections: Paramount, Principled, or Otherwise” Having a vision, mission, and aim are very important in bringing coherence to your organization. You can call them by different names but combining them or collapsing them is not the best idea. It can lead to confusion and allow you to miss or avoid one or another of them. And the different names may confuse you as well.
Vision
The vision is your dream. What you want the world to be. On a grand… Read More . . . “Vision, Mission, and Aim” Often heard: “We don’t use sociocracy or dynamic governance; we use consensus.” Or, “We don’t use dynamic governance; we use non-violent communication (NVC).
The simple problem with these oppositions is that neither consensus nor NVC are governance methods. They don’t come with a set of principles or practices for structuring an organization, managing operations, and ensuring that the appropriate people are making the necessary decisions.
Consensus is a method for making decisions, just like majority… Read More . . . “Equating Consensus and Non-Violent Communication (NVC) with Governance” The purpose of leadership and decision-making structures in sociocracy is to build the maximum power for everyone. And to balance that power with harmony and fairness. It is the responsibility of each person in a sociocratic organization to develop their own power and to use it to optimize the work of the organization.
In physics, power is the rate at which work is performed or energy converted.
As people, we have personal power, the ability… Read More . . . “What Is Power?” 
