Blog – Page 2 – The Sociocracy Consulting Group

Can Sociocracy Help With Conflict?

September 15, 2021December 6, 2021Sheella MiersonUncategorized

People who first hear of sociocracy often ask, “Can that help with conflict?” My short answer is usually, “Yes, it can help, depending on the cause of the conflict.” A better answer is, “Yes it can, but better yet it can help prevent conflict in the first place.” Lack of clarity can contribute to conflict…Continue reading

Decolonising Decision-Making

August 13, 2021November 2, 2023Francine Proulx-KenzleUncategorized

Talking Circles Indigenous Peoples have used talking circles and practiced inclusion and collaboration for millennia. All leaders in a tribal council are heard, without interruption. Decision-making happens in a circle, and all living things are viewed as equal within the circle. Power-with is a dialogue, where everyone stands on the ground, face to face. The…Continue reading

Leadership Agility and Sociocracy – or, How I introduced Sociocracy in my software company and worked myself out of a job

July 29, 2021July 29, 2021Site AdminUncategorized

Guest post by Evan J Miller Back in May I gave a presentation to the Global Sociocracy For All conference. I really appreciated the chance to think through and share my ideas about the connections between Leadership Agility and Sociocracy. Leadership Agility is a discipline for charting a course for developing leaders, and Sociocracy is…Continue reading

Power-With at Play

June 29, 2021June 29, 2021Erin YoungUncategorized

Power-with is a mode of operating in deep collaboration, central to the Sociocratic Circle-organization Method (SCM). Should you be familiar with the gracious and effective momentum of the SCM, you will understand the natural intelligence embedded in its power-with approach. Here we explore what power-with is, and why it is so powerful to organizations in…Continue reading

“It’s Nothing Personal” – Elections and Objections

May 4, 2021June 29, 2021John SchinnererUncategorized

When we put someone in a role in a sociocratic organization, we use a transparent process of selection by consent. At the start, each circle member in turn nominates someone for the role. They give reasons why their nominee is well suited to the qualifications and responsibilities defined in the role description. Then each person…Continue reading

Designing Our Homes and Organisations

February 14, 2021June 29, 2021Gina PriceUncategorized

Human behaviour will work around poor design, but it does so at a cost! I wanted the kitchen to be the centre of the house, where I could keep an eye on the garden, the children and comings and goings from the house. My husband wanted the kitchen to be a place where he could…Continue reading

Spaghetti Night: Mothering with Consent

January 17, 2021January 24, 2021Francine Proulx-KenzleUncategorized

A typical conversation around our dinner table among our four teenagers: “Can I have the car tonight?” “My teacher is the worst!” “You’ll never believe what happened to me today!” My clan around me, sharing a meal together after a busy day, I felt fulfilled. Amidst the chit-chat, our second son Jeremy says “I’ll stay…Continue reading

Dare To Share the Lead

December 16, 2020January 18, 2021Erin YoungUncategorized

“…our ability to be daring leaders will never be greater than our capacity for vulnerability.” ~ Brene Brown Courageous leadership is a core mandate of Brene Brown’s 2018 book Dare To Lead, as described in this October 2020 episode of her newly launched Dare To Lead podcast. Vulnerability is at the heart of the matter.…

Your Best Self, Virtually

August 19, 2020August 24, 2020Sheella MiersonUncategorized

We’re all spending so much time in online meetings, that it’s worth a little effort to use a virtual platform in the best ways we can. Here are some tips. You probably already know that it can help a meeting if everyone has their video on when possible (see key #2 in 7 Essential Keys…Continue reading

Prepare in Advance for Meetings that Rock

August 1, 2020August 19, 2020Sheella MiersonUncategorized

In ordinary times, meetings can run the gamut from dismal to invigorating. There is possibly even a wider range in this time of economic upheaval and physical distancing, when many of our “normal” practices for productive meetings are disrupted. Now with so many virtual meetings, how do we keep some of the spirit and function…Continue reading

Problems Solved From Both Ends

When I was an enlisted man in the Navy, I wondered why the officers didn’t listen to our good ideas. When I became an officer, I wondered why I could never get the enlisted men to tell me what they were thinking. I tell you from experience that sociocracy solves this problem from both ends.

Richard Heitfield, President, Creative Urethanes, Winchester, Virginia

Fewer Meetings, Better Decisions

We adopted sociocracy and all of a sudden there is a room full of empowered people helping make decisions. People feel different. I’d say that at the end of 100% of our circle meetings - where we set policy - everyone says, 'My goodness. I feel so much more energized.' We have fewer meetings over time as we’ve implemented sociocracy, the decisions are better, and the follow-through is better because everyone’s on board.

Paul Kervick, Outreach Coordinator and Board Member, Vermont

A Collective Effort Like no Other

When we set up the International Conscious Movement Teachers Association we wanted to create a genuinely inclusive organisation run on a less hierarchical model. It’s been quite a journey - learning new ways of being - transparency, equivalence...passing decisions off to those responsible for the area of work - and letting them get on with it! We ended up with a lot more than we had bargained for...a collective effort like no other, and intelligent decision-making that genuinely stems from collaboration and creativity. The biggest surprise for many of us is how heart-warming the process is - and how it supports the making of bonds between us.

Tim Foskett, Director, International Conscious Movement Teachers Association

Creative Decisions that Last

We used a sociocracy consultant to facilitate our Steering Council meeting and an annual Community meeting for our religious congregation, where we dealt with some emotionally-charged issues. She did a skillful job. We were all glad that we were able to arrive at creative decisions, and those decisions have lasted.

Elyse Seidner-Joseph, Chairperson, Steering Council, P’nai Or Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA

High Quality Employee Engagement

Recently, the University of Regina unveiled the results of a survey on employee engagement in its various faculties and units, the second of its kind in two years...the Institut distinguished itself not only by a high level of employee engagement, but especially by a high level of psychological safety, cooperation and individual citizenship behaviour towards their colleagues. We attribute these results largely to the Institut’s decision-making culture: dynamic governance (sociocracy). The sociocracy premise is simple. You do not change the relationships in an organization by changing the leader or the organizational chart, but rather by changing the structure of communication and decision-making.

Abdoulaye Yoh, Director of Finance, Institut français, University of Regina

Feels Natural

Sociocracy is a process that feels natural. It's like getting a new game from the toy store. Some games you're agonizing over the rule book trying to figure it out. Other games you're playing within 15 minutes – sociocracy is like that. A person coming into the company can quickly plug in. And the decision making process speaks for itself.

Joe Garrison, Co-owner, Blue Scorcher Bakery & Cafe cooperative