Jennie Robinson Faber
136ee2442b
9 session pages and 10 PS Guide markdown files for the Baby Ghosts cooperative foundations curriculum. Import script creates documents in Outline wiki with cross-links between paired session/PS Guide pages.
164 lines
6.9 KiB
Markdown
164 lines
6.9 KiB
Markdown
# 5: Coop Structures and Governance
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## Pre-session
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If you are the presenting PS for this session, prep a **15–20 minute** case study from your studio covering:
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- How your studio makes decisions now
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- What you tried that didn't work
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- One example of governance helping resolve a real issue
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## **What happens in session**
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Studios learn about legal structures (sole prop, partnership, corporation, worker coop), governance models (collective governance, advice process, sociocratic circles, board + membership, DisCOs), and member management (adding, departing, removing members). A PS presenter shares a 15-20 minute case study on their studio's governance journey. The session introduces Community Rule as a tool for documenting governance in plain language. Key themes: making governance visible, designing structures from the patterns noticed in Session 4, and distinguishing between governance practice and legal incorporation.
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:::info
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If you are the presenting PS for this session, prepare a **15-20 minute case study** covering: how your studio makes decisions now, what you tried that didn't work, and one example of governance helping resolve a real issue. Be honest about the messy parts.
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:::
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### :eyes: **Your role during session**
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- If presenting: deliver your case study
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- Observe how your studio responds to the governance models — what resonates? What causes confusion or resistance?
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- Listen for whether they connect their Session 4 Informal Hierarchy Check-In observations to governance design choices
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- Note how they react to the member removal discussion — this is often where discomfort shows up
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### 👆 **Your role after session**
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- Make sure your studio has access to [Community Rule](https://communityrule.info/)
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- Confirm they understand the homework: start a Community Rule draft with you, discuss financial sustainability, and do a personal reflection on financial access
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- Note which governance model(s) they're gravitating toward
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## **This week's Studio Support Meeting: Community Rule Drafting**
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### **📚 Materials**
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- [Community Rule](https://communityrule.info/) tool (open in browser)
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- Studio's Informal Hierarchy Check-In observations from Session 4
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- Notes on which governance model(s) interested them
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### :world_map: **Context**
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This is a working session. You're helping the studio start documenting their governance in plain language using Community Rule. They don't need to finish — the goal is to surface where they already have answers vs. where they need more conversation. This draft will evolve.
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### **👆 Before the session**
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- Familiarize yourself with the Community Rule interface and fields
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- Review the studio's Informal Hierarchy Check-In observations
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- Have the governance models overview handy (collective governance, advice process, circles, board + membership) in case they need a refresher
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### **🌊 Session flow**
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#### **Check-in (5 min)**
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"What governance model stuck with you from the session? Did anything click — or feel wrong?"
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#### **Community Rule walkthrough (10 min)**
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Open the tool together. Walk through the fields it asks for:
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- What is this community?
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- Who are the members? What qualifies someone for membership?
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- How are decisions made?
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- What roles exist?
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- How do you change these rules?
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Don't try to fill everything in right away. Start by identifying which fields the studio can answer easily vs. which ones need more discussion.
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Prompts:
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- "Where do you already have a clear answer?"
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- "Where is there genuine disagreement or uncertainty?"
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- "Which of these have you been doing by default without naming it?"
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#### **Draft together (20-25 min)**
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Start filling in what you can. Focus on the fields where there's energy or alignment. When you hit a field where there's disagreement, note it and move on — don't try to resolve everything today.
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**Key fields to prioritize:**
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**Decision-making:** "Based on what you practiced in Session 4, what framework are you leaning toward for different types of decisions?"
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- Major decisions (new members, large spending, creative direction shifts)
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- Day-to-day decisions (task assignment, meeting scheduling)
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- Emergency/time-sensitive decisions
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**Roles:** "What roles do you actually need right now? Who's doing them? Was that decided or default?"
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Connect back to their role distribution mapping from last week.
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**Membership:** "This is the hard one. What happens when someone wants to join? When someone wants to leave? When someone needs to leave?"
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- You don't need to resolve this today. Just surface where assumptions differ.
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- If they resist discussing removal: "I know this is uncomfortable. But having a process before you need it is a form of care."
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#### **Close and gaps list (5 min)**
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- Make a list of fields that still need discussion
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- "What's the most important unresolved question?"
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- "Who's going to take a first pass at writing up what we decided today?"
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### 👉 **Also this week**
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#### **Financial sustainability conversation**
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Session 5 homework asks each person to reflect: *What does financial sustainability look like for you personally? What would you need from this project?*
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This is prep for Session 6 (Equitable Economics). Check in during the week:
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- "Has everyone spent some time thinking about the financial sustainability question?"
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- "And the personal reflection: what financial information have you never been allowed to see at work?"
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These don't need to be discussed as a studio yet — just make sure individuals are reflecting.
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### :star: **Tips**
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If they want to pick a governance model immediately:
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- "You don't have to commit today. Start with collective governance or advice process — you can add complexity as you learn what you actually need."
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If Community Rule feels bureaucratic:
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- "Think of it as making the invisible visible. You're already doing governance — this just names it."
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If they skip over membership/removal:
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- "This is the part that matters most when things get hard. Even a rough sketch now saves a lot of pain later."
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If one person is doing all the talking about governance:
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- "Governance designed by one person is just management with extra steps. Everyone needs to shape this."
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If time runs short:
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- Prioritize decision-making and roles. Membership can be returned to next week.
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### **🏁 After the session**
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- Note where the studio has clear alignment vs. where they got stuck
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- Note any tension around membership/removal — these conversations will deepen
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- Remind them about the financial sustainability reflection for Session 6 prep
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- Bring the draft status to your PS check-in
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## :triangular_flag_on_post: **Red flags to watch for**
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- A studio that resists documenting anything — "we just know how we work" (that's exactly the problem)
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- Governance designed around one person's strengths or preferences
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- Avoiding the membership/removal conversation entirely
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- Confusing governance with incorporation — "we're not a real coop yet so we don't need this"
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- A draft that looks perfect on paper but doesn't match how the studio actually operates
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