Consent¶

Consent is not about express agreement but about the absence of serious objections. A proposal is deemed to have been accepted if it is ‘good enough for now and safe enough to try out’. consent thus differs from consensus, which requires the active agreement of all those involved.

How it works in Rhizome¶

All parties involved shall examine the proposal for any substantive objections. Any objection must explain how the proposal undermines the common goal. If no objections are raised, the proposal shall be deemed to have been accepted.

Objections and vetoes¶

Participants may agree or raise an objection. Objections must be justified – a proposed solution may also be provided at the participant’s discretion. Objections can be responded to, for example by co-creator or the person who made the proposal.

Anyone who has raised an issue can edit it themselves, mark it as resolved or delete it.

As long as an objection remains outstanding, the decision is not considered to have failed, but rather to be pending. Co-decider may nevertheless finalise it – albeit at the risk that the person concerned may subsequently exercise a veto.

A veto brings the process to a complete standstill: as long as it remains in place, the decision cannot be successfully finalised – not even by those involved in shaping it. Only the person who imposed the veto can lift it; a new version of the proposal does not do so.

Versions¶

Anyone wishing to incorporate an objection can use the three-dot menu on the proposal to create a new version of it. This allows you to edit the title and description, as well as set a new deadline – for example, if the objection was received shortly before the deadline.

When a new version is released, all previous contributions are reset. All participants are asked to submit their views again. In this way, the consensus-building process becomes an iterative process with versioning.

Suggest alternatives¶

As a 'consent' always deals with exactly one proposal, it may happen that an objection cannot be resolved by a new version, because the new version would have to address a different issue. In that case, the alternative is the solution.

It stops the ongoing consent – which is then considered to have been aborted – and Rhizome initiates a resistance poll] between the two proposals. The winner of this query then returns as a consent. Both steps are created as drafts and must be initiated.

Advanced decision rules¶

When creating a consent decision, the quorum can be configured under the advanced decision rules.

Quorum¶

The quorum specifies the minimum number of people who must respond for the decision to be valid. The current level of participation is always displayed in real time.

A quorum is a useful way of ensuring that decisions taken with low participation are not automatically valid. Organisations can use it to indicate the point at which a decision has received sufficient consideration.

You can find a complete list of all available rules under Special Rules.

Use cases¶

Consent is suitable when ‘good enough’ is sufficient and speed is of the essence. The method is widely used in self-organising teams and agile working environments. It enables decisions to be made swiftly without neglecting the insight of those involved.