This document discusses implementing sociocracy, a form of governance involving transparency, consent-based decision making, and equal roles, at Shalom Hill Farm. It proposes organizing the farm's activities into circles focused on areas like staffing, buildings, gardening, and hospitality. Each circle would have a leader and delegate to regularly interact with a general circle. Next steps outlined are learning sociocracy, setting up the circles, finding more participants, and practicing this decision making process.

1. Sociocracy for Shalom Hill Farm
21 August 2019

2. sociocracy is…
• dynamic governance used in businesses, nonprofits, and
other NGOs
• a third way (neither a flat consensus structure nor a strict
hierarchy)
• a structure which involves three core values:
transparency, making decisions by consent, and equal
valuing with differentiated roles
• a process which uses linked circles for decision-making

5. same / different
• same — people find the elements they are most directly engaged in
and that’s what they focus on in a given circle
• different — we need two people from each circle to regularly interact in
a general circle, the leader and the delegate (which means we need
more people!)
• same — we have the same general needs/goals/things that have to be
done
• different — circles have particular abilities to take action more than in
the past
• different — likely take more time from each of us, but also be more fun!

6. possible circles
• Staffing/personnel (pay issues, benefits, conflicts between
employees, etc.)
• Grounds/buildings (CRP, roofing, snow removal, etc.)
• Gardening/animals (weeding, gardening, planting, chickens, etc.)
• Hospitality/housekeeping/food (welcoming people, booking
reservations, food and clean-up)
• Fundraising/advancement (managing overall finances, budgeting,
banks, etc.)
• ???

7. next steps involve learning how to use this kind of
decision-making process, setting up the circles,
finding more people, and practicing!

8. other resources
• wiki article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociocracy
• https://www.sociocracy.info
• We the People: Consenting to a Deeper Democracy
• Many Voices, One Song
• video I showed from you-tube
• “sociocracy for all” a longer you-tube video