There is no right or wrong in governance. Groups that are new to sociocracy, from time to time, play the governance police. Sociocracy is never rigid. Balance is built into sociocracy, and only a dynamic balance will be resilient. If we catch ourselves being in a “right fight” on how to do sociocracy, we are already on the track toward right and wrong. There is no “right way” of doing sociocracy, especially if the discussion around what is right is creating disconnect. What we have been describing here in this book is not “the right way” but rather what we as the authors have found to be effective.

Effectiveness is the measure of governance. Sociocracy is more than how to do a round or how to interpret an objection. It is more than diagrams and meeting formats: it is a mindset that there is a way of balancing individual and group needs, in support of equivalence. Anything that does so in an effective way is sociocratic to us.

The good news is that there is also no wrong way. We might mess up from time to time. For example, we have facilitated meetings where we assumed that an objection was addressed well in an amended proposal and rushed toward the consent round. When there is upset in the room and all of a sudden everyone wants to speak, that is feedback that we had pushed too hard and continued too fast. We have regretted from time to time erring on the side of effectiveness instead of going for equivalence by slowing down. On the other hand, we have called explorative rounds where everyone passed because there was nothing relevant to say – could we have known that the group was ready for the next step already? Did we just waste minutes on a round that turned out to be unnecessary? That happens. The good thing is: if we have a good system in place, we will still come to a product that is good enough. There is no reason to be afraid to do something wrong. Instead, we pay attention to feedback, because chances are we do things that aren’t perfect – the practice is to notice, adjust, and learn.

The measure of effectiveness is about achieving both your aim and the equivalence in your group. Not all measurements have to be around productivity. Pick your measurements based on your aims and objectives. We can measure how happy our members are, how well we protected the planet, how many new members we have been able to give a voice to. Measurement-driven governance and facilitation does not treat people like machines – fill it with what is important to you!