Hello Advocates,
Our community is wondering if we should stop keeping domains of child circles listed as domains of parent circles. The argument in favour of doing so is, essentially, that it is easier to look up all the domains that the parent circle is responsible for if all are listed as domains of the parent circle. The argument against is that if the parent circle keeps those domains, they can overrride decisions of the child circle. This has not occurred in our community that I know of, but some of us see the potential for that and other forms of undermining, such as the parent circle making a policiy decision about a child circle’s domain.
Hello. I see that your post is nearing a year old, and no one has answered. I am very, very new to all of this, so I will share my take on it, and hopefully it will bring attention to it, and others who are more experienced may chime in.
I plan on putting verbage into the bylaws that prevent people from sabotaging the original mission if the community that I plan on starting. I suppose that you guys could do something similar. And maybe examine why they are child circles of those parent circles in the first place. Is it necessary? If a parent circle is indeed “responsible,”… maybe define those parameters explicitly - exactly where the responsibility begins and ends.
Hi Mona!
Thanks so much for replying to Pati!
My answer is that removing the domain from parent circle and only putting it in the child circle adds clarity. I agree that it can prevent the parent circle from “forgetting” that it’s not for them to decide, based on the principle that decisions are made in the most precise circle. It would be more clear for new members as well.
I’m enthusiastic reading that you have worked on adding sociocracy to your bylaws. Mona! This is a very important thing to do that is sometimes overlooked, and can cause big problems later on. What community are you a part of? Are you starting with sociocracy? I’m curious!
If you want to meet with other members of sociocratic communities, we have an online live meeting of our community of practice once a month. You can find out more here! https://www.sociocracyforall.org/sociocracy-in-intentional-community/#cop I’d be happy to meet you there! 