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Originally posted by Merlin
I have tried to be impartial in the way I have asked the questions below. But naturally they are the only ones that occurred to me, and I’m looking for every way possible to spread power. If there are other areas of investigation please add and flag.
Also, having done all this I realised that the Wiki is useless at creating conversation and debate because you cannot start a topic and then follow and add to the discussions within it.
In fact the wiki seems to just encourage polarised debate. So it would be good if, as everyone adds something, they refer to others ideas. What we need is a conversation, not a load of statements!!
Anyway for what it’s worth, here are the questions I think it would be useful to address.
The critical questions
- What exactly are directors legal liabilities in a CIC limited by guarantee i.e. what do they stand to lose if TTB defaults? Once established, concerns can be judged in context.
- Legally, can these liabilities be spread? e.g. Would WGF members become de-facto or shadow directors if they undertook these day to day decisions jointly, and therefore be seen legally to share liability?
- Or can liability simply be spread legally using consensus. i.e. it is the group and not the individuals that take responsibility?
- If the Directors are only concerned over finance, can these decisions be realistically isolated from all others, allowing the Directors to retain control in this area without limiting the scope of other decisions?
- Or would a casting decision over finance ultimately prove to be a veto hanging over too many other decisions?
- How would this affect the meeting?
- Should big financial decisions really be made by members? If so, does this mean members could feasibly bankrupt the company without as little as consulting the directors?
- Is working using consensus a sufficient safeguard to preventing un-safe proposals being passed? e.g. every person present retains the right add to and block a proposal. Or does majority voting in a small group make better decisions?
Some basic questions
- How many WG representatives should be invited to the next 3 meetings? Should they rotate, or should who comes be left to WG’s?
- Who else should be invited? what process should be used to decide who invites them? should they have any decision making power?
- How should the meetings be chaired/facilitated? We have committed to aim to use consensus. Should one experienced facilitator share responsibility with one less experienced? Do we want to get outside help?
