This Letter from Dan Keshet was forwarded to the MGP Administrative Committee 
by MGP Information Director Patrick Keaney under the subject [Fwd: Conflict and Consensus] 

http://www.massgreens.org/pipermail/adcom/2002-January/subject.html

Hi,

I'm not a member of the State Committee or the Administrative Committee,
but I'm an active member of the Mystic River Greens and I've been involved
at varying levels in a few state initiatives.

I noticed that the state-level committees seem to be having some of the
problems that we've had in the Mystic River Greens: unresolved conflict,
attrition, difficulty in getting involved without sustaining a huge time
commitment, etc. So I thought I'd let you know how we've been dealing
with them in the MRG.

About two months ago, we decided to make a real commitment to improving
our consensus process. A lot of us never knew that consensus was a
process that had been refined over years; we just had an intuitive sense
of it as a "unanimous vote".

Studying consensus consisted of two different tracks: 1) studying the
mechanisms of the consensus process, and 2) studying the motivation of the
consensus process. Consensus is much more than just another way of
conducting a meeting, it's an entirely different way of thinking about
conflict, handling disagreement, and the way we relate to one another.

Since we started, we haven't worked out all the kinks, but we've managed
to greatly reduce non-productive discussion, which cut down our meeting
time and allowed for more productive discussion. We've reversed some of
the attrition that was going on, and most importantly, we've made working
with one another enjoyable again. I'm no longer ashamed to invite
somebody to a green meeting. :)

In our study, we found two resources particularly useful:

* The Non-Violent Direct Action Handbook by Sanderson Beck
(http://www.san.beck.org/NAH3-Group.html#3) While not totally related to
consensus as we practice it, it has a very good overview of the philosophy
behind consensus and what behaviors help it and hinder it.

* On Conflict and Consensus by C.T. Butler and the Waltham Greens' Amy
Rothstein (http://www.consensus.net/ocaccontents.html) This book is
written as a "Consensus Bible"; it's an excellent reference for best
practices in holding a consensus meeting.

If people on the committees want to improve the process of the meeting, I
highly recommend starting there.

So, as Mohandas Gandhi said, "We must be the change we wish to see in the
world."

Peace,

Dan Keshet
Mystic River Greens