> Sociocracy is a governance system with a set of tools for groups that want to self-organize in an egalitarian and efficient manner. These tools tend to hinge on certain patterns that repeat themselves throughout different processes and can be mutually reinforcing. One of these patterns, but very plainly, consists of segmenting processes in different parts to go step by step. Dividing our work into bite-size chunks helps us to make sense of complexity, which is crucial if an organization is to thrive in a complex world. Additionally, it seems like another common pattern is to divide those chunks into 3-step-cycles. Each one of those steps can be divided into its own 3-step-cycle, and so on until infinity. It is part of sociocracy’s fractal nature, and much like other fractal patterns, once you’ve identified it, you start seeing it everywhere! > – Eric Tolson (https://www.sociocracyforall.org/sociocracys-magic-number-3/) Sociocracy just might save civilization. It would certainly be an improvement over representative democracy. As societies have gotten more complex, it's important to update the ways in which we organize ourselves and distribute political power. With representative democracy, elected officials don't often truly represent the interests of their constituencies. Or if they do, they may not balance this with a regard for the good of the whole. Sociocracy is one solution to this problem. Using the principles of equivalence, consent, and effectiveness, it is a system of governance that recognizes power and intentionally distributes it throughout a system. Nature consists of patterns of flow, and only systems that get better at distributing flow have long-term surivival. [[Adrian Bejan's Constructal Law]] > Sociocracy is a set of tools and principles that ensure shared power. > The assumption of sociocracy is that sharing power requires a plan. Power is everywhere all the time, and it does not appear or disappear – someone will be holding it. We have to be intentional about how we want to distribute it. > One can think of a sociocratic organization as a complicated irrigation system, empowering each team to have the agency and resources they need to flourish and contribute toward the organization’s mission. We avoid large clusters of power, and we make sure there is flow. Water that is allowed to flow will stay fresh and will reach all the places in the garden, nourishing each plant to flourish. > No one and nothing can be ignored if we want to honor connection. **Source:** Rau, Ted J. Many Voices One Song: Shared Power With Sociocracy . Sociocracy For All. Kindle Edition. # History of Sociocracy ## Auguste Comte The word "sociocracy" was coined in 1851 by French philosopher and sociologist Auguste Comte. He wanted a method of governance that would be based on the scientific method, especially sociology, which was the study of people in groups. He intended it to have a democratic purpose, benefitting the masses. This was in contrast to the prevailing systems, which favoured those with economic, military or religious power. He was a theorist, however, and was not able to put his ideas into practice. ## Lester Frank Ward [[Lester Frank Ward]], an American scientist and sociologist, took up Comte's ideas and developed them even further. He felt that democracy had failed to deliver on its promise, largely because of its reliance on the party system. Whereas Comte had desired to put social scientists in charge, Ward placed his belief in the self-organizing individual. Ward did much to popularize the use of the word "sociocracy". ## Cornelius and Betty Boeke In 1926, two Dutch Quaker activists and educators, Cornelius "Kees" Boeke and Beatrice "Betty" Cadbury Boeke (of the famous [[Cadbury's progressive Quaker roots|Cadbury Chocolate]] family), created the first sociocracy in the Netherlands, finally turning theory into practice. They established a school called the Children's Community Workshop. The children were treated as equals. They were called "workers", and were taught to be self-reliant – cooking their own meals, doing the cleaning, tending the gardens, and directing their own education. All decisions were made by consensus. Groups had to learn self-discipline the same way individuals learned self-discipline. The Boekes believed that the political party system and majority rule were not the best way to resolve differences. Rather, inspired by Quaker meetings, where over 1,000 members were able to reach agreement, they believed that it was more important to solicit agreement than to vote. By using representatives to link circles, they could maintain the efficiency of a hierarchy while maintaining the equivalence of the members. During the Nazi occupation of WW2, they continued to teach and participate in the Resistance. They set up hidden classrooms and took in teen-aged Jewish refugees from Poland. In 1944, the Germans requisitioned the school building and Boeke was caught with a draft copy of a sociocracy manifesto called "No Dictatorship". Surprisingly, they released him from arrest. ## Gerard Endenburg One of the Boekes' students who joined the school in 1943 was named Gerard Endenburg. After the war, he went on to study engineering in college. Compared to his experience at the Children's Community Workshop, he found college to be rather autocratic. In the mid 1960s, when he was working at Phillips Electronics, his parents asked him to take over a failing electronics company they had just bought. In less than a year, Gerard managed to turn it into a success. His former teacher, Kees Boeke, now challenged him to run it according to sociocratic principles. He began to apply his knowledge of physics and engineering to his understanding of organizational structure. Between 1968 and 1970, he developed what he came to call the Sociocratic Circle-Organization Method (SCM). Endenburg Electrical Engineering does heavy electrical installations on oil rigs, ships, nuclear reactors, and large buildings, and today is still run on sociocratic principles. SCM is credited with increasing its productivity by 30-40%. Whilst workers councils (in-house labor unions) are mandatory in the Netherlands, this requirement was waived for sociocratic businesses, because they protect workers' interests as well or better. In the 70s and 80s, Endenburg wrote a series of books on sociocracy. In 1998, he joined the school of Economics and Business Administration at the University of Maastricht, where he held an endowed chair devoted to the study of learning organizations, including sociocracy. In 2012, he founded the Gerard Endenburg Foundation, whose mission is to contribute to "the quality of life in society by encouraging research and development in theory and practice in the field of social innovation, social cohesion, and participation of individuals, groups and sections of society to realize the vision." ## We the People The modern practice of Sociocracy is quite new in the English-speaking world. It only began to spread in 2007, when John Buck and Sharon Villines wrote "We the People". Jerry Koch-Gonzalez studied with John Buck, and Ted Rau studied with Jerry. In the US, the term Dynamic Governance is often used instead, because Sociocracy made people think of socialism, which has become a loaded term in the US. It was also a hard word to pronounce. However, using the term Sociocracy better captures the international aspect of the movement. --- Good one-page explanations of Socioracy: https://humanoludens.com/the-blueprint-eli5/sociocracy-eli5/ https://thekairosproject.org/sociocratic-tools-for-better-decision-making/ --- Resources on specific aspects of Sociocracy: Difference between operational decisions and policy decisions: https://www.sociocracyforall.org/policy-and-operations/ --- # Practice of Sociocracy For consent to be meaningful, we need to make every effort to make it safe to say "no": - The roles of secretary and facilitator were framed as an opportunity. - But maybe they can also be seen as a burden. - By saying no, you are helping us see that it is indeed a burden, and it challenges us to think creatively about how to make it an opportunity. - Maybe it's a burden for you, but an opportunity for someone else. So by letting go of the role, you are giving an opportunity to someone else. - If no one sees it as an opportunity, then we have a structural problem that needs to be resolved on a deeper level. - No one benefits if you don't feel safe to say no. - We must also make it safe for someone to say no, after they have said a yes. We can always change our minds, because we are not static individuals. We are constantly changing. Making policies is only 20% of the work. The other 80% is still the actual operational work. Once we are done with making policies, we have to get down to work. Leadership matters, but not in the way that we are used to it. We are trying to move out of a domination paradigm, and into a partnership paradigm. If someone is having a challenge fulfulling a job, it is the leader's responsibility to find out why. There are a multitude of tools you can bring to this. Part of a leader's responsibility is to constantly learn and evolve, and figure out how to motivate and support those they lead. Every person's challenge is different. Some people need simple reminders. Other people need help to think through the steps they need to take. For effective decison making, we want to uncover as much of the unconscious as possible. This is where the hidden wisdom of the group lies. If we stick with just what is conscious, we are only tapping into 10% of the what is available to us. It is important that we invest in empathic connection. When we make that investment, a much more durable decision will emerge. This takes a bit of faith in the beginning, but once you've experienced it a few times, you will be hooked. Solutions will emerge naturally. It's like lowering the waterline in an iceberg, and revealing what is underneath. 5 steps to lowering the water: - Gain all views - Invite the "no" - Spread the "no"s. Depersonalize them, let the group own them, see them as gifts, see them as the person saying yes to something else (welcome the dissident as an improvement of the process) - Take a vote and check: "What would you like to request in order to come along?" - Conflict resolution: in cases where it is not something rational (these are emotional issues that are very deep in the unconscious)