## Metadata - Author: [[John Buck and Sharon Villines]] - Full Title: We the People - Category: #books ## Highlights - Sociocracy makes a clear distinction between policy decisions, which establish the ground rules for how an organization will function until a new policy is made, and operations decisions, which are made on a daily basis and apply to the moment or to the completion of a task. ([Location 34518](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=34518)) - Policy decisions govern the day-to-day, in the moment decisions. These are usually not made by consent. Rather, the whole group will make policy decisions about how operations decisions will be made, then operations decisions are made by the operations leader according to the group’s policies. For example, sociocratic teams often decide that operations leaders will make daily decisions fairly autocratically, but within the team’s policies. ([Location 36702](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=36702)) - A relatively small percentage of a sociocratic organization’s time is spent in consent decision-making. ([Location 37138](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=37138)) - An objection may begin as a vaguely unpleasant or heavy feeling, one that feels like depression or a closing down. ([Location 37575](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=37575)) - Such a feeling is acceptable as an initial statement of an objection. Other members of the circle can help explore and clarify the cause of that feeling. Ultimately, an objection has to be stated factually and explained. It might begin with “I object because I won’t be able to do my job for the following reasons...” Unless an objection is presented clearly enough for others to understand, it can’t be resolved. ([Location 37575](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=37575)) - An objection must also affect your ability to function in the organization. ([Location 37576](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=37576)) - Examining the Basis for an Objection Would the proposed policy decision negatively affect the circle’s ability to accomplish its aim? Would it produce new and equally troublesome difficulties? Is the objection based on known facts or conditions, not fears or negative expectations? Would the proposed decision conflict with other policies or bylaws that are outside the circle’s domain of responsibility? ([Location 38013](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=38013)) - A good facilitator will seek out and welcome objections, and allow time for them to be fully expressed. If any circle members say “no objection” but have downcast looks and arms folded, the facilitator should ask whether they are still troubled by something about the proposal. ([Location 38449](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=38449)) - Circles meet as often as necessary, at least every four to six weeks, to ensure that policies are current and issues are addressed. ([Location 41507](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=41507)) - A vision statement is a description of the future as the circle desires it to be. ([Location 42381](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=42381)) - Where the vision defines the desired external world, the mission looks inward and defines the responsibility in realizing that vision. ([Location 42382](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=42382)) - An aim describes an intended result, a product, or service that will accomplish the mission—the “what.” ([Location 42382](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=42382)) - Producing Organization Purpose Define Vision Define Mission Define Aim Operations Design Production Process Design Circular Process of Feedback Determine Task Division and Delegation Design Program of Ongoing Development ([Location 42382](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=42382)) - Clients must be able to recognize the aim and differentiate it from other aims and other products or services. In fact, the circle should define its aim from the point of view of the client. It should encapsulate Juran’s concept of quality as a standard that meets as many of the client’s needs as possible with as few defects as possible. ([Location 42817](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=42817)) - An aim is the jumping-off point for designing the production process—the doing—that describes the steps it will take to produce the tangible objects or services described in the aim. ([Location 42818](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=42818)) - People who had worked in organizations with implicitly or explicitly autocratic leadership needed to “undergo a phase of complete democratization before converting to sociocracy.” In other words, they needed the experience of participating in governance before they could take full responsibility for governing themselves. ([Location 43692](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=43692)) - The structure in most organizations is a hierarchy in which each level has control of the levels below it. The obvious pitfall here is that top-down, linear, autocratic decision-making is almost inevitable. Hierarchy becomes synonymous with autocratic. As we discussed earlier, sociocracy avoids a linear, autocratic hierarchy by establishing a circular hierarchy in which communications and control also move up the organization, not just down. ([Location 45439](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=45439)) - The circular hierarchy in sociocratic organizations is established with a double-link between circles. The operations leader and one or more representatives elected by the circle are also members of the next higher circle. The operations leader is charged with bringing information from the organization to the circle and provides the leading function, and the representative(s) with bringing information from the circle to the organization and provides the measuring function. This does not mean that either one is restricted in what they can discuss, but that they are responsible for ensuring that specific information is conveyed. This feedback loop between circles is, thus, “hard-wired.” ([Location 45440](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=45440)) - The most well-known form of a circular hierarchy is the hand game Rock, Paper, Scissors, in which each element has equal power and can control the others. ([Location 45441](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=45441)) - The operations link is leading on behalf of the organization and the representative is measuring the response of the circle and carrying it back to the general circle. They each have clear aims. Leading, which includes evaluation of measurements, must be separate from measuring. Using an analogy to electricity, power cannot flow in two directions at once on one wire. ([Location 45876](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=45876)) - A circle elects one or more of its members to represent them in the next circle. They may have a representative elected for a one-year term and elect another person to represent them in a specific meeting in which issues are to be discussed that are of particular interest or on which they have expertise. In some circles, the responsibilities may be so disparate that it requires more than one person to accurately convey information about them. ([Location 45876](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=45876)) - In autocratic structures, leaders can ignore feedback. In sociocracy, double-links ensure that they cannot. The principle of consent—the first governing principle—ensures that feedback cannot be ignored within circles; double-linking, the third governing principle, ensures that feedback cannot be ignored between circles. Feedback is the basis of steering in a dynamic environment. ([Location 46751](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=46751)) - Sociocracy uses the powerful linear structure of a hierarchy in operations, the doing, to produce efficient production. This structure, though, is controlled by the feedback processes that balance the top-down energy with a bottom-up energy of feedback and controls the structure with consent decision-making. It builds “power with” rather than “power over.” ([Location 49373](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=49373)) - The general circle includes the operations department leaders, representatives selected by the department circles, and the general manager or CEO. ([Location 49810](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=49810)) - The top circle (also called a board of directors) includes external experts, the general manager or CEO, and the chosen representative(s) from the general circle. The top circle selects the top executive officer (general manager or CEO) and focuses on long-range planning and relationships with external organizations. ([Location 50682](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=50682)) - The top circle’s external experts serve as full members of the top circle and normally include a technical expert who is familiar with the aim of the organization, a social or organizational expert, a legal or governmental expert, and a financial or economics expert who can represent stockholders’ interests or the interests of funding agencies or donors in a nonprofit organization. By including experts along with the CEO and elected representatives from the general circle, the top circle encompasses the interests of the organization itself, its members, its environment, and its profession or industry. ([Location 50682](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=50682)) - Another type of circle is the helping circle. The aim of a helping circle is policy preparation. Helping circles are temporary circles created as the need arises, depending on problems regarding policy or execution, marketing tasks, research assignments, etc. They are formed by people from existing circles and reinforced, if necessary, by external experts. A helping circle might be set up to prepare a marketing strategy plan for a potential new client and be composed of people from different parts of the organization. This is typical in a highly complex corporations. Helping circles do not make policy decisions, however; they recommend policies. Consenting to a policy can only be done by the circle or circles that created the helping circle. ([Location 51119](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=51119)) - While operational leadership is very important in sociocracy and each working unit has an identified leader, there is more to leadership than fulfilling a role. There are leadership functions, among them the ability to stimulate themselves and others to action, to evaluate and plan, to obtain and allocate resources, to define tasks and determine the required results, to initiate ideas, and to share the risks and rewards of implementing them. These leadership functions are expected of everyone—each person is encouraged to think like a leader; to become an entrepreneur within their domains of responsibility. ([Location 52430](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=52430)) - An autocratic leader typically avoids expressing uncertainty for fear of looking weak. In sociocratic organizations, uncertainty is an important part of the process of seeking a solution. A leader can be both strong and uncertain. ([Location 52431](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=52431)) - While sociocratic organizations extend both the rights and the responsibilities of leadership to all members of the organization, this does not mean that they eliminate the hierarchy that is typical of authoritarian organizations—rather, they use it differently. A sociocratic hierarchy is based on the requirements of the work process, not who has power over whom. ([Location 52868](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=52868)) - Strategic planning, Clausewitz said, should include: Ε a clear overall objective Ε rational estimations of resources that will be required and are currently available Ε contingency plans to account for practicalities Ε assurance of good sources of information Ε identification of good leaders ([Location 54178](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=54178)) - While corporations are identified as the most egregious violators of public trust and welfare governments, school systems, public interest associations, and charities have all shown similar unethical behavior. We need a new structure to ensure that such large organizations will serve the best interests of society. Sociocratic organizations behave in the best interests of society because they have a structure based on a set of principles and checks and balances that give power to everyone in the organization and all its stakeholders. The sociocratic structure is more effective in protecting society than laws and their enforcement because it engages selfinterest at the source. ([Location 57236](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=57236)) - Tags: [[blue]] - The most common problem organizational development consultants are asked to address is not the ability to produce profit, but what is characterized as “lack of communication”—the transfer of information. ([Location 57673](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=57673)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Why is there such an epidemic of “poor communications” within organizations? In every one I’ve worked in, employees have ranked it right at the top of major issues. Indeed its appearance on those lists became so predictable that I grew somewhat numb to it. ([Location 57674](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=57674)) - Tags: [[blue]] - An aim is what establishes the basis for an exchange. It creates a connection between supply and demand. A company and a customer. A service and a client. A good exchange is one that is beneficial to all participants. If my aim is to make shoes and your aim is to make shirts, we can exchange shirts and shoes. ([Location 59858](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=59858)) - Tags: [[blue]] - “Nonprofit” organizations are misnamed because they would not ([Location 59859](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=59859)) - Tags: [[blue]] - exist unless they obtained more money than they spent. It is more accurate to say that they are “indirect client” organizations because their source of income is different from the one they serve. A shelter for the homeless serves the homeless, but its income is from the agency or foundation that funds it. A bakery is a “direct client” business because it sells bread directly to the same person who pays for it: its source of profit. In the need to balance the exchange process, there is no difference between for-profit and nonprofit organizations. Each type of organization should be measuring its exchanges and its profit from those exchanges. Without this information, good steering is impossible. ([Location 60294](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=60294)) - Tags: [[blue]] - If everyone is participating in leadership activities and policy decision-making, they need full information to make good decisions in their domains of responsibility. Sociocratic financial reporting systems are available to all members, including both the figures for the company as a whole and the team and individual contributions. Some information, including proprietary formulas and competitive information, is protected but can be available if it is relevant to a team’s decisions. ([Location 60731](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=60731)) - Tags: [[blue]] - A policy is a decision that determines how an individual, a circle, or an organization will function in the future. Policies say who may or is responsible for doing what when. They can say yes or no, or yes and no. Policy determines how operations are conducted. ([Location 65100](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=65100)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Implementation of sociocratic governance in either a forming or existing organization begins with: Ε training in the principles and practices with the aid of a certified sociocratic consultant, Ε forming an implementation circle, and Ε designing the circle structure that will assume responsibility for governance. The implementation circle members are typically a cross-section of the organization, including the: Ε top managers or officers in the current structure, Ε representatives from the major departments or units, Ε staff members, and Ε if appropriate, volunteers. ([Location 65100](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=65100)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Using the circular process of leading-doing-measuring, the implementation circle makes a plan, tries a small step, measures the results, then evaluates and adjusts the plan, repeating as necessary. ([Location 65101](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=65101)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Ε In a Dutch police organization, the implementation circle drastically reduced the number of reporting levels, because its members could see that they were unnecessary and the new structure provided a better alternative. ([Location 65537](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=65537)) - Tags: [[blue]] - While some are able to implement sociocracy after reading this book, the support of a certified sociocracy consultant can be very helpful in complex organizations that require expertise in organizational design to change smoothly. Sociocracy also introduces a number of subtle changes in familiar patterns of behavior that a consultant is experienced in recognizing and correcting. ([Location 65538](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=65538)) - Tags: [[blue]] - The duties of the top circle go beyond legal and financial oversight. According to Board Source, an organization that provides governance resources, training, and consulting for education and nonprofit boards, the top circle members should spend 65% of their time on connections to other organizations, educating themselves about new trends and developments, studying competitive forces, etc., and 30% on strategic planning. ([Location 66412](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=66412)) - Tags: [[blue]] - In other words, the primary responsibility of the top circle, like the traditional role of boards, is outward-focused: building networks, bringing in ideas, making professional connections to benefit the business or organization, and planning for the future. ([Location 66412](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=66412)) - Tags: [[blue]] - well, only 5–10% of a top circle’s time involves financial and fiduciary responsibilities. ([Location 66847](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=66847)) - Tags: [[blue]] - The more common types of rounds are opening and closing rounds, reaction rounds, and consent rounds. Facilitators use rounds in circle meetings for many purposes, but their essential function is to create and maintain equivalence. In a round, each person in the meeting is given an equivalent opportunity to speak. ([Location 71217](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=71217)) - Tags: [[blue]] - It is a mistake to ask, “Who would like to start?” First, the facilitator should lead and the circle will be more comfortable with clear direction. ([Location 71653](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=71653)) - Tags: [[blue]] - To test the clarity of your aim, ask yourself, “Could I buy one? Or hire it? Use it? Enjoy it? Point to it?” If someone said, “My aim is to change the world,” you could test the clarity of their aim by asking, “Can I buy three changed worlds? Can you deliver them tomorrow!” ([Location 82141](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=82141)) - Tags: [[blue]] - An aim is also something that can be exchanged. Something you can trade for something else. You give and receive in relation to an aim, including giving and receiving appreciation. ([Location 82576](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=82576)) - Tags: [[blue]] - The objective of an aim statement is to define a product or service that can be traded or exchanged, that will have exchange value. ([Location 82577](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=82577)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Inventing a useful and relevant measurement tool can mean success or failure of a project. The Wright Brothers, for example, managed to invent the airplane before their competitors, in part, because they invented measurement tools—wind tunnels and other devices that measured lift and steering abilities. ([Location 86510](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=86510)) - Tags: [[blue]] - American motivational psychologist Daniel Pink (1964–) reports research findings that money can be a motivator for repetitious jobs that require skill but no creative thinking. Money can demotivate if it is used to reward work that requires originality and problem-solving. ([Location 88256](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07NSY8MFB&location=88256)) - Tags: [[blue]]