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Notes from the Field

by Susan Grove As a student and practitioner of facilitation, it delights me that in this new model of working together, we are developing our process consciousness. One of the ways I think of facilitation is as a practice, and a discipline, of doggedly pursuing a sense of clarity about where a group can and … Continued

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Sit and Listen: The Legacy of Circle Practices

by Aja Schmeltz, with Susan Grove When I was a kid, I remember my entire family (parents, grandparents, great-grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins and even close family friends) gathering in my Grandmother’s living room after we shared our Thanksgiving meal. The adults would form a standing circle and the children would have to sit in the … Continued

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Notes from the Field

by Terri Hall Learning a new model for stewarding our organization, including adopting policies, landing on practices that support our working together constructively, and negotiating team member roles in a way that seeks to honor individual gifts and interests as well as organizational needs is a huge lift! Making such radical change to our infrastructure … Continued

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In Search of a Decision-Making Ideal

by Susan Grove “How did the meeting go?” one person asks another. “Great, we reached consensus!” is the reply. With a sense of mutual satisfaction about this ideal outcome, the conversation moves on. But what does it mean to reach consensus? Is it truly the ideal way to make a decision?  At our second transition … Continued

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Notes from the Field

by Aja Schmeltz Like the moon, I’m going through phases in this process. When discussions started happening around our transition to a Worker Self Directed Non-Profit (WSDNP), I was excited (Phase 1)! This was it! Radical change was happening right here and I had an opportunity to not just be a part of it, but … Continued

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Trust is Radical

by Micah Blumenthal, with Aja Schmeltz Before we talk about radical trust, let’s look at the word radical. rad·i·cal /ˈradək(ə)l/ adjective (especially of change or action) relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of something; far-reaching or thorough. advocating or based on thorough or complete political or social change; representing or supporting an extreme or … Continued

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Notes from the Field

by Caitlin Dourmashkin Getting started is always the hard part. You set an intention, imagine the outcome, and then you go get a snack, read some emails, and all of a sudden you’ve forgotten what you even meant to do in the first place. Every time I sit down to outline a policy, read a … Continued

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Notes from the Field

by Susan Grove When Matt came to us with the proposal to transition GWI to a Worker Self- Directed Nonprofit (WSDNP), along with the rest of the team I expressed a clear sense that we should challenge ourselves to do it. I also shared a concern: We grow up with a sense that there’s a … Continued

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Circle Up

by Caitlin Dourmashkin and Micah Blumenthal Becoming a Worker Self-Directed Nonprofit is primarily a conceptual shift; it is a shift away from a hierarchical system of power and decision making to a distributed, democratic model of shared leadership based on a radical sense of trust. As a team, this means we are all (for the … Continued

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Notes from the Field

by Micah Blumenthal In my opinion the greatest issue facing our species is figuring out how to handle power. We haven’t done a very good job so far. We are young, immature and so we act irresponsibly when wielding power. It’s a rare human who doesn’t. A WSDNP is a way to play with power … Continued

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