Co-operative Principles
I am passionate about economic democracy — not so much in the sense of majority rule voting, but in the sense of the people involved in something controlling it together. Some people have argued that, for this purpose, organising as a sociocratic business is better than organising as a co-operative business. Sociocratic businesses allow their members to participate in decision-making regardless of the size of their contribution to the business’s capital; sociocratic businesses do not get torn apart by the Scylla of majority-rule politics or sucked down by the Charybdis of interminable and impotent meetings. However, many co-ops do not suffer from these problems either — and a co-op can remain a co-op while becoming a sociocratic business. The opposition between co-op and Sociocracy is a false one. Let me show you why. Read the rest of this entry »
The Good Chef
“The good chef (chief) walks around her kitchen, with a clean apron and a pocket full of spoons”.
I love this quote, that Louis shared with me the other day. Apparently it came from a local chef he knows, but for me it says a lot about Facilitative Leadership and Collaborative Governance. It talks to me of support, measurement and trust. And it sounds fun and delicious!
Martin
Collaborative Governance – Societal Innovation And Learning for our times
John Bristow recently interviewed Nate for Societal Innovation And Learning; John writes a short explanation of what the Sociocratic model of Governance is about, and features several short videos of Nate entertaining with a discussion of the historical, political and philosophical context, hierarchy and control in organisations, and how to use Collaborative Governance.
“This is of interest to anyone interested in addressing the issues of alienating and ineffective uses of hierarchy and methods of control in organisations and groups of all sizes. And in the question of how to have equality in being heard and having influence together with efficient decision making and action. While developed over 40 years ago in the Netherlands and then used in different sectors and contexts in the US of A and elsewhere, this is still relatively little known in the UK….” Continue article and see short videos here
To find out more about Sociocracy, Organisational Democracy or Collaborative Governance, start here
Changing the World by Changing the Way We Make Decisions
Axiom News in the States recently interviewed Nate, following his appearance at the WorldBlu organisational democracy conference:
“While there are countless ways to better the world, Decision Lab facilitator Nathanial Whitestone says changing how we make decisions is the most critical and profound change we could make.
Co-founding Decision Lab one year ago, Whitestone says the U.K.-based organization aims to accelerate better decision-making in organizations by introducing models that encourage participatory decision-making and improved communication flows.
“At every point we are able to fix things technologically,” says Whitestone. “The key for me is every person having control over the way they work . . . . You can’t fully express yourself, fully express the gifts you have in life, if you don’t have input on the design of how you express them.”… Read more here http://axiomnews.ca/node/1507
The Miles Davies approach to facilitation
Co-leading a Facilitative Leadership day last week alongside London Creative Labs, I was enjoying later what we coined the Miles Davis approach to facilitation: bathe in the gaps and celebrate the words you don’t speak.
Martin
Leadership and Tao Te Ching
I really like this quote. I’ve been using it a bit recently while teaching and explaining Facilitative Leadership
Simple.
The Master doesn’t talk, she acts. When her work is done, the people say, “Amazing: we did it, all by
ourselves!” – Adapted, from Tao Te Ching (17)
Martin
The Stop Button
London was burning. The world saw an Arab Spring, and in London and San Francisco — across Europe and North America — we celebrated other people’s civil discontent as a sign of positive transformation. Why did we not celebrate our own civil unrest? Read the rest of this entry »
Making time
The Growing Edge of Organisational Democracy
The WorldBlu conference on organisational democracy was organised around Traci Fenton’s 10 principles for what makes an organisation “democratic”. While many people think “majority-rule voting” when they hear the word democracy, Traci thinks of freedom. It is this broader definition that makes her vision worth hearing. Read the rest of this entry »
Integrity in Organisations
We often talk about — or hear about — companies and leaders and integrity. Integrity is frequently defined as “acting in accord with high moral values” or the like. I prefer a completely different definition which often has the same effect. I prefer to speak of integrity as wholeness. Read the rest of this entry »
