Sociocracy
We use sociocracy to help us collaborate in a non-hierarchical way.
The goal is to optimise organisational efficiency while ensuring that everyone’s voice is heard. Decisions are made by consent, not consensus. The bar for consenting is that a proposal is “good enough for now and safe enough to try”.
This method recognises that most decisions aren’t permanent, and optimises for efficiency and iteration over consensus. It is about trusting the people you work with to make decisions that impact the collective as a whole. It removes the expectation that everyone must be deeply involved in, and supportive of, every decision that needs to be made. Although an individual member may give up a little of their personal agency, overall it increases the collective’s ability to act, learn and grow rapidly.
It also encourages each member to take ownership of a proposal and then follow through with it. Moving from a freeform discussion towards a concrete proposal requires formulating an idea clearly. Responding to clarifications often highlights aspects that one person alone would miss. The end result is usually clarity about what needs to be done next and who is responsible.
Where to go next
- Where a decision belongs (mandate, meetings, Twist as last mile): Democracy, autonomy and trust
- How consent works in practice (clarification, amendments, blockers, Twist rules): How decisions are made
- How we facilitate meetings (rounds, check-in / check-out, roles): How we run meetings
Further reading: Sociocracy for All · Sociocracy 3.0 patterns