I lead a session on do-ocracy at She's Geeky last week. Denise Gearty was kind enough to take notes during the session and here they are - to hopefully inspire you to do things. Do-ocracy is a tricky thing - but you just have to go in and do it. :)
Did you miss the conference? There are tons of awesome notes here.
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Do-ocracy
Session // Tuesday,
October 23, 2007 // 10:30 AM
Do-ocracy (definition on board)
Do-ocracy is a summary term for consensus management on a
non-authoritarian, classical anarchist model emphasizing voluntary involvement
and actual results, where those with an actual involvement make the decisions.
GTD =
Getting Things Done (www.davidco.com)
How to
Get Your Hearts Desire, a six step process outlined
Heather
found Do-ocracy based on experience in mostly volunteer environments (e.g.
large Burning Man camps www.burningman.com).
From here she developed experience and transitioned to the LA tech community.
Key
learning: solicit/ask for help from trusted friends and colleagues
Question:
What if you are not clear on your vision? How do you check this?
How do you know?
- Need
confidence in yourself
- Don’t
always be a perfection tied down by details
- Allow yourself failure every
once in awhile
How do
you start the community? -- Ignite action?
- Start
with something small (a small vision) even something material and practice
- Don’t
forget to be direct and ask for help, feedback, etc.
- Sometimes you
just have to ask
- Consult
with your friends
- Know
feedback verses criticism
Find a Space
to Stretch In -- find it, encourage it. A safe space to practice do-ocracy.
Creativity
allows the development of ideas and enables action
Julia comments that Australia and New Zealand follow do-ocracy in the workplace. It must be a cultural phenomenon.
From her experience it fostered honesty and a successful project
Ryanne (video blogging)does large scale
events/video blogging practiced do-ocracy
Heathervescent comments on her same
experiences. She recommends that you have to be aware of others who want
to step in and take over responsibilities. By engaging others you open up
growth and opportunity.
Cultivating
Leaders: Pay attention and take note of others to get involved. Sometimes
you have to ask people to play certain roles.
Heather
Newman
"There is no fucking book!" ~ Comment on where are the
guidelines or rules?…where are the mentors that direct me?
You need
consensus when working in teams; so, you have to communicate to get things done
. . . to move forward.
Partner
with people who compliment you, may be opposite of you -- they can make
you shine
There is
a difference between "what you are good at" and "what your
strengths are" -- Know this!
References:
Book:
Strength Finders
Site:
Positive Psychology - there is a test on the site
Book:
The War of Art by Stephen Pressfield
Reference:
Steve Pavlina's Personal
Development for Smart People
What
about when Do-ocracy goes wrong?
- You end up doing it
all yourself
- Volunteers
that are hurting (process, team, decision-making, etc). Sometimes you have to "fire" volunteers
- People
don’t communicate and/or holding resentment can poison the success overall
- Be aware
so that you can catch this early in the game
- One
approach is to categorize late resentment comments as "data
invalid" -- they should be presented at a relevant point when action
can be taken
If you want something, put it
out to the universe but as specifically as possible
What
about commitment?
Are you
hearing the advice given? Are you at a point where you are capable of
hearing the advice? This is key.