We (Fred, George, Gordon, Hawina, Heather, Ione, Lynn, Marione, Pam, Raj, Ted, and Thea, plus or minus some) have started the Sociocracy Resource Circle (SRC) in order to examine whether or not Twin Oaks could benefit from a different sort of decision-making. We've used the "planner-manager" system for a long time, but the planners are overworked and underpaid. It's hard to convince people to take it on and decisions are sometimes overridden. It is, after all, taken from a work of fiction and only developed in the real world at Twin Oaks. We're not intent on changing this system, but we do want to investigate whether a different process might serve our needs better. Even if the planner-manager system doesn't change, small groups can still benefit from sociocratic processes.
WORKSHOPS
We organized workshops in June, September, and November. At the workshops Twin Oakers have gotten experience teaching so that we won't be dependent on outside trainers. Fred and Ted have trained Oakers since then.Any sociocratic organization evaluates just what the heck it's supposed to exist for. Each circle within the organization does the same thing. One goal we've had in the SRC is to come up with a Vision/Mission/Aim statement for the circle. A very important part of sociocracy is to state the goal and always evaluate what you're doing in terms of that goal.
Here is a copy of our current working draft:
VISION
-To have an egalitarian, participatory, and effective system for governance and decision-making at Twin Oaks.
MISSION
-To learn, understand, teach, and choose the best possible models of governance for Twin Oaks.
-To integrate and evaluate these models with the community.
-To help the community articulate a statement of Vision, Mission, and Aims.
AIMS
-To organize workshops for members to thoroughly understand the Sociocratic model.
-To brainstorm and try out ways of integrating the models.
-To mother one or more sociocratic circles in work areas at Twin Oaks.
-To continue learning and developing effective communication skills.
-To use the sociocratic circle meeting format for our meetings.
Another important part of sociocratic structure is connecting to the wider world beyond that particular organization. If Twin Oaks was a totally sociocratic group, this might include meeting with people from other communities for actual decision-making affecting Twin Oaks and possibly also people who help keep us on track with environmentalism, non-violence, and egalitarianism.
THE PRESENT
We changed our name from the 'Sociocratic Learning Circle' to the 'Sociocratic Resource Circle' to reflect that we are now wanting to help other groups at Twin Oaks investigate using sociocracy and consent decision-making. We are actively working with the Visitor Program, and Movement Support (where we donate money and labor to good causes) to help them operate sociocratically and evaluate how well the experiment works.THE FUTURE
We would like to spread this good idea. We volunteer to provide a sociocratic facilitator at Twin Oaks for small groups, managerial areas, Small Living Groups', and committees wanting to try using the sociocratic method. In addition we would like to role-play proposals in our SRC meetings, to practice the skills and to help provide possible solutions for community problems.
Home Why use sociocracy?
About Sociocracy The Four Main
Principles
Meeting format Proposal
format Elections Facilitation
Proposal Template
Circle Processes Vision, Mission,
Aim
Decision-making forms FAQ
Links
Twin Oaks homepage (where i used to live!)
This page was last updated June 1st, 2002 by webmaster Ted.