• ChaordicOrganisation

Chaordic Organisation

Stefania Strega Scoz

• Tel: 00 34 922 400 133

  Email: stella@finca-luna.com

  Web: http://www.finca-luna.com/

Format: Participatory talk with slides and discussion.

(( DOES anyone have the flipchart notes for point 4. below please? ))

Summary

Chaordic organisational design recognizes that nature and evolution are better models for organizational success in a dynamic, changing world than inflexible ones. It embraces ethics and a dynamic blend of opposites, such as competition and collaboration, to enable the design of organizations that maximize autonomy through self organization and self governance. At the same time, it promotes connections and interdependence between organizations to produce a ‘distributed’ network that is neither centrally coordinated nor comprised of individual isolated units. Current examples include the internet and Alcoholics Anonymous. There are 6 key elements to chaordic organizational design, all of which have some parallels with Permaculture design and which could be developed to foster the evolution of Permaculute organization and networking. For a summary of chaordic design, email Stefania; for a comprehensive explanation and expansion of the model, see http://www.chaordic.org/

Key Points

1. Chaordic organizations are compatible with humans & the biosphere.

2. Autonomy, self organization and self governance are key features.
3. They are part of distributed organizational networks, which are those that lie between centralized and decentralized.

4. The 6 key elements of a chaordic organization design are Purpose, Principles, Participants, an Organizational Concept, a Constitution and Practices that serve the purpose and create value. (( WE WENT THROUGH EACH OF THESE in the workshop, brainstorming which of these we already felt we had in our permaculture network - DOES ANYONE HAVE THE NOTES PLEASE? It was a central aim of the workshop, I hope someone kept the flipcharts we wrote them on? ))

5. The ideal conditions for success include crisis (!), champions (of the model), working group structure, both design and practice, and compromise.
6. Leaders within a chaordic organization need to manage themselves so that the key features (see above) can be fostered and errors are not punished; they must be willing to ‘not know’ all the answers!
7. Chaordic organization requires us to ‘midwife’ (develop) teachers that, rather than becoming gurus, help empower others.
8. Chaordic organization has many parallels with Permaculture design and practice, and could be a useful model for the continued development of the Permaculturce network.

[Scribe: Angie Polkey]