[theforum] random thoughts about consensus

Erika ekm at seastorm.com
Fri Oct 17 23:55:07 CDT 2008


been thinking a lot about our processes and such...
the challenge we have at times reaching consensus...
the passion in the group, and all the battles
that have gone on.

wikipedia on consensus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consensus

I am not one who thinks that consensus decision making should be 
abandoned, but I do think that we need to consciously strive for 
civility, empathy, and picking our battles.

wikipedia has a formalized consensus process
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Consensus
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Consensus

As the second link notes, consensus is *not* the same as voting....
(or design by committee...) but more a team-approach.

someday I'd like to write an article specifically about our processes, 
and how they evolved.

because we have eschewed traditional leadership, we are a really special 
organization, and our members are forced to actively seek common ground.

In my work, I seem to end up in jobs where I am in the position of 
helping different groups work together to achieve a common goal (usually 
relating to a CMS) and I've learned a lot from my experiences with 
evolt.  I think it's a good experience.

just some thoughts.

Erika







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