Consensus decision making is one of the cornerstones of Heartwood.  In majority rules decision making, participants align themselves on different sides of an issue in opposition to each other and then try to persuade the undecideds to join their side.  There are clear winners and losers.


Consensus decision making turns that process on its head.  Rather than expending energy on persuading why your position is right and the other is wrong, energy is focused on hearing all of the wants, needs, and concerns and then working with those to sculpt a proposal that best fits them.  There is no ”us” and “them”; there is only “us”.  It is a wholly different process, one which values deep listening, cooperation, and maturity.


Consensus does not mean everyone getting their way.  That’s where the maturity comes in.  Every decision is looked at from the perspective of what’s in the best interest of the community as a whole.  Sometimes we must lay our personal preferences aside in favor of an option that looks to be a better solution for the whole community.


And because there are no losers, everyone has buy-in in the decision and supports the implementation.  We move forward together with no disgruntled minority left behind.


We do have alternative decision making options available if consensus is not appropriate for a particular decision (urgency, conflict of interest, etc), but we rarely go to those alternatives.


Consensus is about much more than making decisions.  It’s really a reflection of the quality of relationships that characterize Heartwood.  We value each other’s input and seek through cooperation to meet each other’s needs.  We recognize that we are all pulling together for a common good.  We are not a collection of factions all fighting each other to get our own way.  We are all on this journey together and we support each other in the process.


To learn more about our decision making, see our Decision Making & Meetings agreement.


For more about consensus, try these links:

- Our Consensus Philosophy guideline

- Tree Bresson’s Consensus Basics

- Rob Sandelin’s Basics of Consensus

- Consensus Decision-Making (short chapter from The Change Handbook)