Would you like to work in an organisation where power is shared among all employees? Where all the decisions you make are valued autonomously, and at the same time, everyone’s voice matters? Then welcome to sociocracy: a mode of decision-making and governance that recognises an organisation, whatever its size – from a family to a country – for what it is: a living organism, capable of self-organisation, self-correction, and improvement.
We spoke to Alex Soto, member of #Reimagina2030, a movement of Latin American organisations that explore and share best practices on new ways of making decisions and key players in transforming our society. Their goal is to reinvent organisations so that they become conscious and purposeful spaces that promote the fulfillment of people and drive the positive changes needed for a fairer and more sustainable reality.
So what’s it all about? To begin with, classical sociocracy is based on three principles: transparency (all information is accessible to all members), equity (power-with rather than power-over), and efficiency (decisions are made both quickly and inclusively).
Sociocracy assumes that all people are capable of making decisions. In other words, it is based on trust.
In terms of structure, sociocracy is organised into small groups. These groups are called ‘circles’ which interact with each other, and make decisions following four clear rules: consent, circles, double linkage and open choice.
Consent. Consent governs and streamlines the decision-making process. Consent does not mean that what is decided is always “preferred” but it must be within each member’s range of tolerance, i.e. that they can live with the decision even if it is not their favourite option. This makes it possible to move forward quickly and avoid blockages. It’s important to remember that the decision only moves forward if there are no objections (comments) or if these have already been integrated into the proposal.
Another rule of consent is that you need to ask yourself whether the decision is safe enough to try. If the answer is yes, it is taken. If it is no, an alternative is sought.
Circles are semi-autonomous elements of people who make up the organisation. Each circle has clear objectives, activities to develop and sufficient authority to carry out three functions: decide, execute and evaluate. In fact, they can organise themselves into sub-circles without requiring the authorisation of other circles and/or persons.
Double Link. The next concept is the ‘double link’. This mechanism ensures that the circles are aligned and communicate with each other. ‘Double linking’ means that at least two people from one circle participate in another circle (the coordinator or leader, who “downloads” the information, and one or more representatives or delegates, who “upload” the information). This is to ensure that no one circle makes decisions over another and that information flows smoothly between circles.
Open choice means that people are chosen exclusively by consent. When there is a role to be filled (e.g. the role of circle representative), circle members collaboratively decide on the skills and aptitudes they would like the person to possess. Then, when there is consent on the list of qualifications, the nomination process begins. People can self-nominate or nominate someone else, and must always argue “why”.
More than one round of decision-making is carried out as people can change their minds by listening to other points of view that they did not have before, thus tapping into collective intelligence. Whatever the decision, it always needs to be argued in an open and transparent way.
Soem of the roles of circle participants can occupy include: coordinator, facilitator, secretary and representative. None of these are static, and one person can play more than one role. They all maintain a defined cycle of time to ensure the flow of power and continuous learning.
These practices and processes are what make sociocracy a promising way to make decisions that address the complexity that characterises today’s context – whether we are talking about companies, neighbourhood groups or any human organisation.
At Efecto Colibrí we believe that sociocracy will gradually move away from the old, vertical and rigid organisational models.
Sociocracy is part of a new paradigm, and a new way of deciding in organisations, as it puts special focus on the collective (and not so much on the individual) making a good balance between efficiency and inclusion.
