[Noisebridge-discuss] Consensus and the "old ways".

[jim]

On Fri, 2009-10-02 at 09:28 -0700, Al Billings wrote:
>   But is it truly functional in an organization approaching 100  
> members to have a system where a single individual can effectively  
> table and then block all decision making on any specific issue?

   (clintonesque answer: ) it depends on what you mean 
by "truly" and by "functional". 

   i was in an over-100 group that worked by consensus. 
it worked. occasionally there were silly, frustrating 
objections and discussions, but infrequently. most 
often, most people didn't know or care about the 
ramifications of proposals, and proposals did not come 
up often: "somebody ought to change the lightbulbs" 
kind of illustrates the typical proposals. 
   there's a functionality to inefficiency, e.g. don't 
bring topics up for consensus, just do as you please, 
hopefully mindful of being excellent to each other, or 
at least considerate.