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README

The primary self-organization constitution document is here.

Check out the Citizen Code Example Constitution to get an idea of what this can evolve into over the course of a 2 years.

Note: This version of the constitution is new and being vetted by pioneering organizations. Your feedback as a pioneer, practitioner, or engaged observer is very welcome.

Principles

  • Distribute Authority - Members are free to take actions that further the organization's purpose by default.
  • Evolve - Define organizational rules and roles iteratively based on the challenges that members experience. Make progress even over perfection.
  • Evidence - Base decisions and actions on evidence.

Why is this constitution needed?

Your group of 2-20 people needs a clear way to fulfill its purpose, make decisions, get things done, and respond to change.

  • To fit your values your constitution must be egalitarian.
  • In order to respond to change and adapt to your unique context you must be able to evolve your constitution.
  • To learn from other groups you need to be able to share innovations freely.
  • In order to build capacity rapidly with changing team members your constitution must also be simple.

If this is what you are looking for, this constitution is for you.

How do you adopt this constitution?

  1. Each member of the organization defines roles based on the activities they are currently doing. The mission holders of the organization define the purpose & values through a process they choose.
  2. Grant the roles defined by the organization's members and the default roles: Role Assigner, Facilitator, and Treasurer. Remember, roles can be held by multiple people and people can hold multiple roles.
  3. Have those with sufficient authority ratify the constitution for self-organization.
  4. Have regular meetings to make proposals. Document the proposals in the adopted proposal section below.

Why are there no circles or groups defined in the constitution?

The focus of this constitution is for small groups of 2-20. There are several design patterns for scaling. Rather than biasing in one direction or another at the outset, the constitution gives space for the organization to evolve.

Two potential scaling patterns are: nested holonic circle structures as employed by Sociocracy & Holacracy; and networked structures such as Morning Star's Colleague Letter of Understanding (CLOU).

If you would like to contribute scaling "proposal pattern", your contributions would be welcome. For example you could contribute a sociocracy style double linked circle "proposal pattern".

Legal

The materials in this constitution are for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice.

For maximum usability, this constitution is licensed under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication: http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0

Attribution

You are not required to include attribution if you redistribute this constitution. However, your ethical credit for our work is appreciated when appropriate.

Inspiration

We were greatly inspired by Holacracy, Sociocracy, Morning Star self-management, and the tradition of self-organization stretching back to at least Norbert Wiener's work on Cybernetics.

Core Contributors:

  • Noah Thorp
  • Alexis Gonzales-Black
  • The team at Citizen Code

Contributors:

  • David Hodgson
  • Mike Arauz

Sponsors: