Co-ops and distributed leadership

Shared Leadership Notes - Co-Op Session

Questions

What are the realities of politics and dynamics of a group

Does a flat hierarchy create chaos

Things we mentioned wanting to learn more about/discuss today:

How to enable self-management

How to have structure without hierarchy

Kinds of non-traditional leadership that we want to model

What does co-leadership and other models look like

Working with an established long tenure co-op/ collective

Collaborative leadership and interpersonal conflicts

Rethinking of how civil society organizes itself

Dynamic Hierarchies

Roles change or rotate
So if someone needs to leave, anyone can take over
Some specialty roles are static, some rotate such as:
- Note take, liaison, coordinator
Having 3 co-directors = some redundancy
- All partners, all signatories, can make decisions for each other
- Vacations, sick days become much easier

From a Corporate Point of View:

Empowering People

Accountability
Scrum Methodology
- People with Areas of focus communicate their goals for the year
- Use Scrum to create point system for your task ( to quantify your work)
- Helps relieve from competition or people who want to be the ‘star’
Github is used for everything
- Make a pull request for anything
- Adopted Decision Making Matrix from Ampled
  - Who can sign checks, etc

Thoughts:

People want structure and sometimes equate it to hierarchy

Being very clear about Operational & Co-Op structure is very helpful

- Define structure with document about how decisions are made aka MOU (memorandum of understanding)

“If you’ve met one co-op, you’ve met one co-op”

Separate the legal from organization structure.

Be transparent about documentation

Tools do not matter, what matters is the culture

Collective responsibility is not a thing

Figure out boundaries / Agree upon expectations

Unlearn scarcity and trauma of finances

Deep sense of competition and scarcity are applied to things that are not scarce

The Power of Facilitation to replace the idea of Leadership

A really good facilitator is good if they are invisible and everyone says ‘I made it happen’
Collective Success vs Individual Success
Setting aside egos

Corporate Structure:

Co-Op C Corp (super worker protective language in the law) or LLC can be a co-op
Tip on Figuring out how to ‘comply with capitalism’: Create ‘Titles’ for the state but you don’t have to adhere to them
Some states do not allow EDs to be paid much more than other workers

Resources

SustainableEconomiesLaw Center - for worker directed non-profits, different types of co-ops and what makes sense

Co-oplaw.org

Tools for collective decision making for a more democratic system

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