In an increasingly complex and interdependent world, collective decisions can no longer rely solely on the mere sum of individual preferences. It is with this perspective that the generative decision-making process is framed: an innovative approach that places tolerance, attentive listening, and consent at the heart of decision-making.
This method invites each participant to give free rein to their creativity, to step beyond their own self, to open up to tolerance and, ultimately, to commit not to a perfect consensus, but to a viable and even energising collective consent.
To support this dynamic, six simple yet powerful framing rules are proposed: listen with attention, speak with intention, respect others’ words, build on others’ ideas, suspend judgment, and recognise that time is a shared resource. These rules ensure a respectful and productive space for dialogue.
What particularly struck us, and what can be widely reused, is the clearly defined process for speaking. There are clarification statements, which consist solely of questions aimed at understanding the proposal, without passing judgment. There are reaction statements, where each participant expresses their feelings and arguments using “I” statements. During the objection stage, the question is whether the proposal threatens the organisation or the broader project — in our case, our Rule of Life, the Orientations of the General Chapter, for example.
This process promotes the emergence of stronger, more widely shared and more legitimate decisions, as they arise from a collective construction attentive to the diversity of viewpoints. It is not a debate where the strongest prevails, but a collective elaboration based on shared intent and individual responsibility. A particularly joyful moment of the method is the celebration of a validated proposal through visual confirmation: with a simple thumbs-up, each person indicates whether they can “live with this decision.”
This inclusive and empowering method, Percolab©, has strengthened the cohesion of the Assomption Ensemble group that we formed during the provincial chapter and later in our work meetings in the enlarged CPP, in community, and so on. This method fosters a culture of dialogue and listening, and helps to distinguish personal disagreements from real issues at stake.
In short, this method does not just transform decisions: it transforms those who make them. We trust that it has provided us with more sustainable decisions, as they have been accepted by all. We recognise that we have more decisions than we can implement, but day by day, in the trust and joy of the Assumption, we continue on our way.