Habitat Re•Imagined

Sustainable Community

BePeace – Cultivating Coherence & Connection

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At the core of relationship breakdown is lack of awareness and communication. I have worked with many tools to cultivate these aspects and recently discovered one of the simplest and most effective yet.

I have been a fan of the work of Marshall Rosenberg and  The Center for Nonviolent Communication (also known as Compassionate Communication) for some time. It is a simple process, used throughout the world, to practice communication with empathy rather than judgment. It is used in a variety of settings to help facilitate healthy interaction as well as to mediate conflict. Families, businesses, associations, and even volatile settings like prisons and international peace efforts have benefited from the process.

Although a simple process, it is difficult to assimilate in our blame oriented psyche. It is also often criticized as a mechanical process that can lack “heart” and authenticity. I recently started training in a process called BePeace that that has been inspired by the practice of HeartMath in combination with Compassionate Communication. The Institute of HeartMath has scientifically designed a process to help people shift the energy of stress to the energy of the heart – values and feeling like appreciation, forgiveness, care, etc. BePeace integrates the coherence cultivated in HeartMath to help facilitate deeper interpersonal connection through Compassionate Communication.

Although much more than I can communicate in this short post, the basic process starts with a HeartMath practice called Quick Coherence. It focuses personal attention on the heart,  establishes rhythmic breathing, and recreates feelings of appreciation in the midst of stress. Once coherence is established, the four steps of Compassionate Communication are followed to better connect with yourself and others.

The foundations of Compassionate Communication are in the following four steps:

  1. Observation – what is the objective reality of situation without judgment or evaluation?
  2. Feelings – what are the emotions present in yourself and others involved?
  3. Needs – what are the underlying human needs that are unmet in yourself or others?
  4. Requests – what do you want (without expectation or demand)?

Stay tuned for more on this process – I am incorporating BePeace in my work in community building and am excited to share more. Let me know if you have questions.

Creating & Sustaining Collaborative Environments

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If you are involved in a collaborative living or working environment (or want to be), you will need effective tools for communication and decision making in order to have more empowered collaborators, more effective and efficient results, more creativity and less conflict.

I am starting to offer an opportunity to learn and practice a set of community building skills in an experiential small group setting. The group process focuses on the basic organizing and decision making of Dynamic Governance (Sociocracy) and, as part of the program, it also incorporate the communication principles of NonViolent Communication and an introduction to the State of Grace Document for agreement building.

I will be focusing the training with people that are part of a group where you can practice between sessions. The training will start with a 4 hour introduction and integration of collaborative tools, and continue with six  2 hour meetings. Sessions will provide experiential training as well as an opportunity to process your practice. The training will be relevant for people new to these tools as well as those that have a basic understanding and want support for their implementation. The group will be limited in size to provide the most beneficial group process and personal attention.

I have designed the workshop to be available on a regular basis, as I have enough people for a small group. I can do it with unrelated people from a variety of organizations or with a related group from one organization that want to work together with optimum synergy and harmony. I also can do the workshop face to face or via webinar. Contact me for more information.

The workshop focuses on the following objectives:

  • Establishing a foundation of personal and collaborative awareness
  • Understanding and experiencing the sociocratic circle process
  • Facilitating solution oriented, consent based decision making
  • Empowering creative and shared leadership
  • Learning a three step process for crafting effective proposals
  • Navigating a variety of facilitation challenges
  • Designing relationships for graceful agreement
  • Practicing authentic and compassionate communication
  • Applying the principles in your home or organization

Consenting to a Deeper Democracy

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The subtitle of We The People: Consenting to a Deeper Democracy gets right to the heart of many issues we are facing in this world. Uprisings in the Middle East are indicative of a world ready to move beyond dictatorial political control, and the uprisings in the Midwest are indicative of a world that is also ready to move beyond corporate control.

We live with an ideology and an illusion of freedom in North America, but the reality of representative government that is highly influenced by the money of big business is far from freedom or democracy. The reality is that We The People are mostly pawns, our mouths shut, satisfied with the crumbs from the table of those who pull the strings. The left and the right keep the smokescreen intact as they fight over petty issues that only obscure reality.

But it seems that a renewed desire for freedom is in the air. People are waking up throughout the world and are realizing the Emperor has no clothes. At first it is frightening and disillusioning  – there is grieving on all sides as people come to realize the loss from trusting a system that is driven by money and power. But, as in all grieving, acceptance and peace follow anger and denial. From there, rebuilding on a new foundation is possible – but only if we learn to trust and cooperate.

I have spent most of my life exploring collaborative ways to live and work together, along with the tools to help make that happen. In my opinion, the consent based decision making of sociocracy (or dynamic governance) is a foundational piece to make true democracy a reality. Rather than the the control of the powerful or wealthy, sociocracy puts the rule in the hands of the “socio” – those who have a social relationship with one another. It is grass roots decentralization on one hand but also allows for large and complex organizations to empower the voices of all.

In consent based decision making, everyone effected by a decision consents to moving forward. It is a process that uses objections as a tool for crafting creative solutions. The decision making structure is organized with double linking circles to build consent both from the top down and the bottom up. It is a tool for effective organization, efficient decision making, and empowered leadership on every level. It is truly a tool for building a “dynamic governance” of deeper democracy – and can be incorporated in any home, business, or organization where people are the priority.

To learn more, read Creative-Forces-of-Self-Organization by John Buck.

Shared Housing – a Win / Win Solution for Many

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There is a growing interest in intentional community around the country, with a concentrated interest here in Asheville. The list of reasons are many, with mutual support right up at the top. Many people have realized for some time that our culture has, in many ways, lost a sense of community – next door neighbors often don’t even know each other. We also struggle with many physical, emotional, and spiritual needs that are exasperated by this loss of community. We struggle with finances, relationships, parenting, aging, etc. – most of all we want to know and be known.

The current social, economic, and environmental conditions in the world have put a spot light on some of these needs and brought an interest in community to the forefront of many peoples minds. At the same time, there is a growing inventory of large houses for sale with owners that are seriously looking for a solution to payments they cannot afford. Many of these houses can be renovated to provide a great balance of private and shared space. Many of these houses can also provide affordable rental and/or purchase options.

If you are interested in shared housing communities, contact us for rental opportunities or assistance with renovating or purchasing. We can help you explore the many shared housing possibilities in our area.

 

Dynamic Governance – In Pursuit of a Deeper Democracy

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I have worked with a variety of decision making structures – from authoritarian to egalitarian. On one end of the spectrum, the person with the most authority, investment, or charisma makes the decisions. On the other end it often seems that the lowest common denominator is the decisive factor. Through the spectrum, “we the people” are hardly heard.

In an authoritarian structure, the primary considerations come from the perspective of the person or persons at the top. At worst, it is ego or bottom line that controls direction. At best, in organizations with caring and benevolent management, the people are heard but only within the limited abilities of the few that are listening.

The majority rule of traditional voting is an attempt to curb abuses but, again at best, there are always winners and losers. At worst, thugs with the muscle or lobbyists with the money control the vote. A truly deeper democracy is needed.

In egalitarian structures, often in reaction to authoritarian abuses, there is a greater attempt to listen. Achieving universal agreement through the process of consensus is usually the goal. Although this is usually an improvement, there remains serious problems to overcome. It is at times difficult to move forward because of the lack of agreement and leadership is often discounted in favor of a false sense of equality.

Several years ago, after around twenty five years of struggling with the problems in these structures, I came across Dynamic Governance, or sociocracy, and quickly saw the beauty of an organizational system and decision making process that was designed to empower everyone involved but also to allow leadership to move things forward.

Dynamic Governance  is a governing process that evolved from a philosophical concept to an organizational structure that has the ability to create self organizing efficiency especially suited for collaborative living and working environments.  Sociocracy was first conceived by August Comte in the early nineteenth century as an organizational system to replace the monarchy in the emerging industrial revolution. Sociocracy literally means to “rule by socios”, people who have social relationship with each other.

Sociocracy didn’t take root until last century under the leadership of Gerard Endenburg who established a functioning system for highly efficient business management in the Netherlands. Today it is being used in diverse organizations in Europe, Latin America, Australia, the United States and Canada.

Dynamic Governance is rooted in three key principles that distinguish it from other forms of decision making structures. The principles are circles, double linking, and consent. The overall structure of an organization is first organized into functional and management circles where everyone is involved and given a voice. Decisions are then based on consent rather than agreement or voting. Proposals are formed within the circles for all matters they are involved with. Consent is given or held back by each person based on a range of tolerance. Decisions are quickly processed as proposals are modified based on what everyone in the circle can live with. Double linking of functional and management circles assures top down and bottom up communication and consent.

Although somewhat complex to grasp, Dynamic Governance becomes quite simple and efficient as it becomes internalized. I am presently working toward certification in facilitating the process for community building and will post more detail on the principles and process along the way.

For more information, check out the following links.

Governance Alive

Network for Sociocracy

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