A Common Consensus

Mon Aug 18 05:13:24 PDT 2008

Interesting, Peggy - and to carry the thought a bit further, my learning
from Open Space is that consensus is a totally natural part of the process
of self organization. I think we see this practically when a highly
conflicted group of people begins their journey in OS with what seem to be a
host of radically opposed ideas and positions. Everybody is totally sure
that nobody agrees with anybody. However as the discussions proceed it be
comes clear that some of the painful difference comes from
mis-understanding. Folks had been so busy talking at each other that they
couldn't hear what was really being said. In other cases the pain of
difference resolved as it became clear that two or more positions were good,
useful and not mutually contradictory. They could live well together, given
the space to do so. I have found, and I think others have found as well that
as the OS proceeds, larger themes emerge from most of the groups around
which there is a broad level of agreement. Nothing special was done in order
to achieve all this - it just seemed to happen. To me this is an essential
part of the adaptive process which Complex Adaptive Systems do as a matter
of course - as they seek to have things fit together (Search for fitness).

Some times, of course there emerges a consensus that there is no consensus.
Or put another way - what everybody presumed was the consensus had changed.
My favorite example of this was a business I worked with once who had asked
me to open some space around the theme of their future. By noon of the first
day it was apparent to everybody (consensus) that there was no future. By
mid afternoon, they had essentially dissolved the business, which came as a
great relief to everybody, but it was rather a shock to the President.
Beware of Predetermined outcomes! The good news, however, was that by dinner
time that evening they had created two new businesses both of which are
doing quite well to this day.

If consensus is a natural part of the process of self organization it
becomes quite clear that this is not something we invented, and probably not
something we need "do" as a special activity. It happens all by itself,
given the space/time to work in. To the extent that we perceive painful
differences in a group our focus should not be on achieving consensus, but
rather to insure that the system has the opportunity to heal itself - which
in most cases means that we will need to open some space so all that can
happen. 

Peggy mentions that she does not have much energy for consensus process - a
feeling I share. The issue for me is that given the space/time, the system
will do a much better job that I ever could. Not only do I end up with a
less than optimal result, but it is also a lot of hard work. Doubtless this
reflects badly on my skills and competence, but unnecessary hard work is one
more thing I would choose not to do.

Harrison  

Harrison Owen

189 Beaucaire Ave

Camden, ME 04843

207-763-3261 (Summer)

301-365-2093 (Winter)

Website www.openspaceworld.com 

Personal Website www.ho-image.com 

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From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Peggy
Holman
Sent: Saturday, August 16, 2008 5:52 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: A Common Consensus

I must admit to having little energy for consensus process, though I have
seen its remarkable power to shift a group to a new level of understanding
when people truly do listen to that one hold-out voice who brings some very
important truth into the mix.  Still, I believe Open Space, as an ongoing
practice, a collective way of being, provides a very useful alternative
framework.

I think of the essence of Open Space as taking responsibility for what you
love.  (As an aside, I now believe that to do so is always an act of
service, not the selfish act that some assume it would be.  But that's
another conversation....)

Now, there is a major assumption in what follows, but I seem to recall this
is a going in condition for consensus process as well: that the people
involved are committed to the well-being of the system of which they are a
part.

This is primarily what I learned from Spirited Work, an Open Space community
of practice which used the four principles and the law as its operating
framework (along with Angeles Arrien's four-fold way).  In practice, those
who cared about something, took responsibility to make it happen.  If, for
some reason, their actions created dissonance, the issue found its way into
the marketplace and those who cared showed up to deal with it.  This
happened with everything from washing dishes to dealing with a financial
deficit early in the community's life.

I think this approach puts decision making into the flow of life, a reminder
that no decision is permanent.  Those who care, act and if something
hiccups, well, then, it surfaces and those who care, convene, reflect, and
act anew.  

Now all that said, when the risk goes up, perhaps because the nature of the
action is difficult to undo, then it can be challenging.  Transparency is
essential so that people can step in should they choose to do so.  As groups
stumble through learning to do this, I think they develop the capacity to
discern when to bring something into a larger group for discussion, knowing
that action will flow based on taking responsibility for what one loves as
an act of service.  I have experienced this sort of co-sensing on many
occasions.  It seems to involve 1) understanding that a decision is a moment
in a larger unfolding and 2) radically trusting others in the community,
knowing they are taking responsibility for what they love in service to a
larger whole.

So much more to be said, but I'll end off here for now.

open-heartedly,

Peggy

______________________________

Peggy Holman

The Open Circle Company

15347 SE 49th Place

Bellevue, WA  98006

425-746-6274

www.opencirclecompany.com

For the new edition of The Change Handbook, go to: 
www.bkconnection.com/ChangeHandbook 

"An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get burnt,
is to become 
the fire".
  -- Drew Dellinger

On Aug 15, 2008, at 1:49 PM, Bui Petersen wrote:

Peter,

This is necessarily my favoured definition of consensus but rather the most
thorough one that I have seen. Just meant to illustrate the amount of work
sometimes required to reach consensus.

Bui

Peter Emerson wrote:

Dear Bui,

You propose the following definition:

"Consensus is a group decision - which some members may not feel is the best
decision but which they can all live with, support, and commit themselves to
not undermine - arrived at without voting, through a process whereby the
issues are fully aired, all members feel that they have been adequately
heard, in which everyone has equal power and responsibility, and different
degrees of influence by virtue of individual stubbornness or charisma are
avoided, so that all are satisfied with the process."

May I suggest a slight amendment, adding the two words 'with or', as
follows:

"Consensus is a group decision - which some members may not feel is the best
decision but which they can all live with, support, and commit themselves to
not undermine - arrived atwith or without voting, through a process whereby
the issues are fully aired, all members feel that they have been adequately
heard, in which everyone has equal power and responsibility, and different
degrees of influence by virtue of individual stubbornness or charisma are
avoided, so that all are satisfied with the process."

And a voting process in which "everyone has equal power" is, may I further
suggest (as in my original splurb), a consensus vote, a multi-option
preference vote, a Modified Borda Count.

Just because some voting procedures are so dreadful - probably the worst is
the two-option majority vote - does not mean that all voting procedures are
bad. 

Peter

Peter Emerson

www.deborda.org

  _____  

From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Harrison
Owen
Sent: 15 August 2008 20:30
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: A Common Consensus

I quite like what Scott Peck says, although when you read it, it sounds like
very hard work, something which can be achieved only occasionally and under
special circumstances. I wonder whether the truth is rather different.
Indeed I might suggest that the vast majority of decisions made in any group
or organization occur by consensus. There is no argument, no great
discussion, "it" whatever it was, just seemed like the right thing to do -
and that is what happened. Somewhere along the line we came to the notion
that decision is always a matter of formal action, constrained by rules and
procedure. This certainly seems to be the reality in a number of
organizations - which I find totally claustrophobic! Probably just me - but
my experience is that the essence of life is deciding. Most of the time it
just sort of flows. But there are certainly times when it gets bumpy and
hard and most usually that happens when I try to force things. Crazy?

Harrison

Harrison Owen

189 Beaucaire Ave

Camden, ME 04843

207-763-3261 (Summer)

301-365-2093 (Winter)

Website www.openspaceworld.com

Personal Website www.ho-image.com

OSLIST To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options
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From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Bui
Petersen
Sent: Friday, August 15, 2008 1:46 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: A Common Consensus

I have been absent from this list for a rather long time. Life has
intervened again (I have just moved from Vancouver to St. John's,
Newfoundland) and kept me away from anything to do with Open Space. But the
discussion on consensus makes me come out from hiding.

Harrison, I agree with much of what you say. However, I think the difficulty
with any discussion on consensus is that everybody has a different
interpretation of what "consensus" means. The way I see it, consensus is not
something you come at easily. Reaching what I consider to be true consensus
requires a process that gives plenty of space for disagreements to be
voiced. If a solution can be found that everyone believes is the best  and
most reasonable (considering the alternatives), and that everyone is willing
to support, that could be considered consensus. It requires a lot of time
and effort and is not always practical or even desirable.

What irritates me the most is when people talk about consensus as if it only
means a strong majority, as in "8 out of 10 support this options; it looks
like we have consensus. A more common problem, however, is that people
suppress their disagreement in order to not be seen as "difficult".

The most thorough definition of consensus that I have come across is:

"Consensus is a group decision - which some members may not feel is the best
decision but which they can all live with, support, and commit themselves to
not undermine - arrived at without voting, through a process whereby the
issues are fully aired, all members feel that they have been adequately
heard, in which everyone has equal power and responsibility, and different
degrees of influence by virtue of individual stubbornness or charisma are
avoided, so that all are satisfied with the process. The process requires
the members to be emotionally present and engaged; frank in a loving,
mutually respectful manner; sensitive to each other; to be selfless,
dispassionate, and capable of emptying themselves; and possessing a
paradoxical awareness of both people and time, including knowing when the
solution is satisfactory, and that it is time to stop and not re-open the
discussion until such time that the group determines a need for revision."
[C 1988, Valley Diagnostic, Medical, and Surgical Clinic, Inc. of Harlingen,
Texas and the Foundation for Community Encouragement, Knoxville, Tennessee]
(as quoted by M. Scott Peck).

My two cents.

Bui

Harrison Owen wrote:

Peter - Tyranny by the majority is certainly a downside of Democracy as
practiced in my country (USA). That said, it seems to me that there are
circumstances where it is the preferable alternative. The passage of the
Civil Rights Act here in the US was vociferously and often violently opposed
by a very vocal minority, however I would doubt that many black Americans
opposed the vigorous enforcement of that act, and fortunately (for the good
of the country) a majority of all Americans, regardless of hue, were in
agreement.

Consensus politics has much to commend it, but it too has its downsides.
Resolution at the lowest common denominator is one such, which often appears
to be no resolution at all. Alternatively, the whole system may simply
become paralyzed. At such times, I for one find myself longing for a
straight up or down vote. There is also such a thing a Tyranny of Consensus,
I think.

Perhaps it is useful to think in terms of both/and as opposed to either/or?
For example, Majority Rule, as in the case of the Civil Rights act, was
possible only because of a prior consensus in the American Population that
the Rule of Law was to be preferred even if you were on the wrong side of
the Law.

I suspect that the situation is infinitely more complicated than the simple
alternative (Consensus/Majority Rule). My learning has been that our
capacity to design and implement effective systems of all sorts (political,
corporate, etc) is limited at best. We simply cannot comprehend the infinite
complexity and random occurrences (essential chaos), characteristic of all
living systems. Our solutions are always approximations, and try as we
might, we will never get it "right" - and for sure we will never be in
control.  This doesn't mean that we shouldn't keep trying, but I think it is
essential that we understand the true status of our creations - they are
maps, and never to be confused with the territory. Like all maps, some are
better than others, and as conditions change these maps become more or less
relevant/accurate.

We really get in trouble when we decide that there is "One Right Way." This
effectively limits our options and reduces the living space (open space).
Pushed to extremes the system will die - which is the end state of all
systems, regardless. When you run out of space/time you run out of life.
Fortunately our maps do not create the systems, and our systems are
infinitely more robust than our designs could ever be. Are they perfect? No.
They are always on the way to something new. And if they ever get "there"
that will be the end, I think.

Harrison

Harrison Owen

189 Beaucaire Ave

Camden, ME 04843

207-763-3261 (Summer)

301-365-2093 (Winter)

Website www.openspaceworld.com

Personal Website www.ho-image.com

OSLIST To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options
<http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html>
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html

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From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Peter
Emerson
Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2008 5:21 AM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: A Common Consensus

Dear Jack,

They key, then, is to ask these folks, do they believe in democracy?  Yes?
Oh jolly good.  And do they believe democracy is for everybody, or just a
majority?  And if they agree to the former, away you go.

Mediation works only when the parties to the dispute agree to it.  Democracy
should work for all democrats.  Russians and Georgians claim the adjective.
But the idea that a majority can determine the fate of an unwilling minority
should be abhorrent. to both. 

Cheers,

Peter

Peter Emerson

Director, The de Borda Institute

36 Ballysillan Road

Belfast BT14 7QQ

028 90 711795

078 377 17979

pemerson at deborda.org

www.deborda.org

The Borda count "is the best protection ever devised from the tyranny of the
majority."  Professor Sir Michael Dummett.

  _____  

From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Jack
Martin Leith
Sent: 14 August 
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: A Common Consensus

Peter,

Thanks for taking the trouble to explain the method in so much detail. I've
turned your post into a Word document and filed it under Decision Making
Methods for future reference.

The challenge is getting people's agreement to use the method.

Catch-22!

Warm wishes,

Jack 

Jack Martin Leith
Now-to-New activist
Bristol, United Kingdom
Mobile: 07831 840541 (+44 7831 840541)
Skype: jackmartinleith
email: jack at jackmartinleith.com
www.jackmartinleith.com

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