wiki_ghostguild/content/curriculum/PS Guides/1-coop-principles-power.md

1: Coop Principles & Power

What happens in session

In this session, we cover cooperative history and lineages, crediting Global South, Indigenous, Black, women's traditions, not just Rochdale. We also review the 7 ICA Principles.

The theme is moving from principles to personal values.

:::tip Homework assigned: individual journaling, team values map (with PS), and individual prep for The Talk (Session 2).

:::

👀 Your role during session

• Observe small group activity (cooperative lineage sharing) - note whose stories are shared
• Listen for how studios talk about values - vague or specific?

This week's Studio Support Meeting: Values Mapping

📚 Materials

• Studio Miro board with Values Mapping template
• 7 Principles reference

👆 Before the session

• Confirm everyone completed their individual journaling (Session 1 homework)
• Ensure the studio Miro board has the template
• Have the 7 Principles visible (on the board or screen-shared)

🌊 Session flow

Check-in (5 min)

Individual sharing (15-20 min) - Each person shares 3-5 values from their individual reflection.

Prompts:

• "What values came up when you did the journaling?"
• "You don't need to explain or justify."

As they share: each person adds values to the Miro board (stickies in their colour/section). No discussion - just capture.

Watch for: someone dominating or going first every time; someone staying quiet - invite them in gently; values that sound the same but might mean different things to different people.

Noticing patterns (10-15 min)

Look at the board together.

Prompts:

• "What do you notice?"
• "Where do you see overlap?"
• "Any surprises?"
• "Are there values that seem similar but might mean different things to different people?"

Example to offer: "Transparency" - does it mean open documents? Open conversations? Both? Neither? What exactly is meant?

Connecting to the 7 Principles (10 min)

Look at the ICA principles together.

Prompts:

• "Do you see connections between your values and these principles?"
• "Draw lines or group things if it helps."
  • This can be loose - don't let them fixate on making a beautiful diagram. The point is seeing that their values connect to a larger cooperative tradition.

To bring back to Session 2 (5 min)

Prompts:

• "What's one thing you learned about where your team aligns or diverges?"
• • You'll share this in Session 2 - doesn't need to be polished.
    • Have someone write it down or capture it on the board.

Community agreements contribution (5 min)

"Based on this conversation, are there 1-2 values you'd propose adding to the cohort community agreements?" Capture these to bring back to the full group.

⭐ Tips

If someone is dominating:

• "Let's hear from someone who hasn't shared yet."

If no one talks… awkward silence:

• "Take a minute to look at the board silently. What stands out?"

If tension emerges

• "Sounds like there are some different perspectives here. That's useful but we don't need to resolve it today."

If they want to debate definitions:

• "It's okay to mean different things. The goal is simply to notice where you might need to clarify later."

If time runs short:

• Prioritize steps 2-3 (sharing and noticing). The principles connection and agreements contribution can be done async if needed.

🏁After the session

• Note any tensions/surprises for your PS check-in
• Remind the team to bring their learnings to Session 2

👉 Also this week

Make sure they're prepping for The Talk

Session 2 homework includes individual prep on four topics: financial reality, time/availability, skills/contributions, decision-making styles.

:::warning They need to write their answers down before Session 2. Check that they're doing this!

:::

🚩 Red flags to watch for

• A studio that can't name any values beyond "we want to make good games" - don't we all! Too vague.
• One person speaking for the group about "our" values
• Values that are all abstract with no grounding in practice