In recent weeks, Occupy Wall Street (OWS) and numerous local and regional Occupy actions in the USA have brought ideas of “horizontal” governance into more common awareness. Occupy groups have mostly modeled themselves on the original OWS model, where “General Assemblies” that operate through a form of active, often large-group consensus are a primary means…Continue reading

[Written by Nathaniel Whitestone, cross posted from the DecisionLab blog] I am passionate about economic democracy — not so much in the sense of majority rule voting, but in the sense of the people involved in something controlling it together.  Some people have argued that, for this purpose, organising as a sociocratic business is better…Continue reading

“I can take one look at an organisational chart and tell you whether they will still be in business in a few years’ time.”  Philip smiled at me and raised his eyebrows.  I was already deeply impressed with his insight and achievements, but with this he had me hooked.

On the last day of August 2011, high-tech photovoltaics manufacturer Solyndra abruptly shut down. The cutting-edge solar power technology company announced it would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Employees were turned away when they arrived for work that morning; in total, 1,100 full and part-time personnel were laid off overnight. Based in California, Solyndra…

[edit Nov 14 2011: Now it is the USA, and people are getting clear about what they want. Need a stop button!] London is burning. The world saw an Arab Spring, and in London and San Francisco — across Europe and North America — we celebrated other people’s civil discontent as a sign of positive…