Consensus: Decision Making and Worldview

Decision Making

We make our decisions using a combination of empowered committees and full group consensus. For many years we used full group consensus for all decisions, but as we continued to grow more decisions had to be made and more time spent in meetings. Many people became uncomfortable with the amount of time spent in meetings and became willing, even eager, to give up some control of the decision making process in exchange for having to spend less time in meetings. So bit by bit the group agreed to moving pieces of the decision making process away from the full group and into committees empowered to make decisions in certain areas.

We have quite a few committees that make decisions in a wide variety of areas. Some of our committees are:

1. Proposal: No decision making power. At this level a committee can only make proposals and bring them to the full group. All members at DR have this power so this gives the committee no extra power.
2. Review: At this level a committee could make a decision but it would need to be posted and receive no vetoes or unresolved concerns to become a full decision. In other words, if no one were to object within 2 weeks then the decision would be an official consensus of the group. All committees are assigned this level by default.
3. Recall: At this level a committee could make binding decisions without the waiting period specified in Level 2. If someone objects to the decision, the issue can be brought back up within 2 weeks.
4. Final: Committee can make decisions that are essentially final. (Committees are frequently given this level of control over their own budgets.)

Committees use consensus to make decisions within themselves.

The Oversight Team (OT) is a special committee that:

• makes sure all other committees are functioning properly
• directs new proposals to the proper channels (be it committee or full group)
• creates the agenda for full-group meetings
• makes sure that underlying community issues are being addressed.

About Consensus

The consensus process goes back to roots with the Quakers and Native Americans but was brought to a modern popularity in the peace and free speech movement of the 60's.

At its simplest, using consensus means that we don't make any decisions unless everyone can live with the decision. It doesn't mean everyone gets exactly what they want or that it's the perfect thing for everybody, but it does mean that no one has to accept a decision that they can't accept. This makes it different from voting systems where some people end up losing and having to live with a decision that they may be very unhappy with.

We use consensus because we believe that it results in better decisions for the group and in greater group cohesion and happiness. It's not always an easy process. It takes some learning, and experience definitely helps (especially since it's so different from what we are used to in our wider culture), but we feel that the time and effort are worth it. We have one meeting every two weeks, in which we plan the weeks activities and make decisions. If needed we have extra meetings during the week, and in the winter we have a week-long retreat. The retreat affords us plenty of time to make larger decisions and plan for the upcoming year.

Consensus as Worldview

But consensus can run much deeper than just decision making. The values of consensus can sink deep within you to become part of your core values and your everyday interactions with others.

For instance one central value of consensus is that every person has a piece of the truth. In meetings this means making space for everyone to speak, trying to truly hear and listen for the truth in what each of us brings to the group. When applied throughout one's life it can mean taking to the time to listen to others, respecting other's ideas and trying to understand them instead of negating them, constantly looking for that truth in others.

Consensus also relies on the idea that each person should be empowered in decisions that affect their life. This ideal can have a profound effect on how we set up our workplaces, our intimate relationships, our relationships to parents and children, or even our relationship to the rest of the natural world.

We don't expect everyone at DR to embrace consensus at the deepest possible level. We do hope that everyone will participate as fully as possible in our decision making and will make every attempt to empower themselves by learning about the process and how they can contribute.

Consensus Resources

Many books on consensus are available from Community Bookshelf. We highly recommend Building United Judgment and A Manual for Group Facilitators published by the FIC.

If you are looking for facilitators or consensus training we recomend Fellowship for Intentional Community's Process Consultant Clearinghouse.