Group Governance: Written v.s. Spoken Word

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Group governance through written word involves constitutional documentation, procedures, and policies for proposing and changing important matters, with everything being documented and referred back to the written agreement when in doubt. On the other hand, governance through the spoken word focuses on present-moment orientation, coherence of feeling, being heard, acting in good faith, and working together as a whole, tested through dialogue. It suggests that most humans care about feeling part of a healthy, safe group where they are respected and their voice matters, rather than focusing on the details of written proposals or constitutions. The emphasis is on attending to feelings, relationships, and maintaining a healthy culture, while acknowledging the importance of occasionally documenting agreements.

In this episode, Vince Fakhoury Horn is joined in conversation with Richard D. Bartlett. Rich is the author of Patterns for Decentralised Organising and a contributing author for Better Work Together. He is a co-founder of Loomio and The Hum. He is a Director and longstanding member of Enspiral. In finding where convergence resides among them, Vince and Rich explore many interesting topics including Decentralised Organising, Microsolidarity, Fractal Narcissism, and the Occupy Movement.

Memorable Quotes

“In a time of massive disruption, where the stakes are really high and everyone has skin in the game, who is saying stuff that feels sensible? That feels like it’s giving me guidance?” - Richard D. Bartlett

“The world is great when there is a huge variety of different ways of being and they form some complex, uncontrollable network. That we’re all enmeshed together and we’re all playing different parts…” - Richard D. Bartlett

Episode Links

👤 Richard D. Bartlett, aka Rich Decibels

👤 Rich @ Twitter

👤 Rich @ Medium

📖 Better Work Together

📖 Patterns for Decentralised Organising

🔗 Enspiral

🔗 Loomio

🔗 The Hum

🔗 Microsolidarity

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