How it works

Everything in your group lives in one tree we call the canopy. At the very top is your group's purpose, written as a question. A community theatre's might be "How do we make our playhouse the most entertaining, welcoming and financially sound theatre in the county?" Every other question sits under the one it helps answer.

In Solvocracy a question is called a Problem and a proposed answer is called a Solution. A Solution can raise smaller questions of its own, and so the tree grows from the broad to the concrete, down to things someone can actually go and do.

A group can have parts, called subgroups: a board, a committee, a crew. Each part has its own door. A question filed inside a subgroup stays inside it unless its author chooses to share it with the whole group, and once shared it is published permanently.

Under every question and every proposal there are three places to weigh in: pros, cons, and anything else. Each point needs a sentence or two saying why. You can pin a point to the exact words it is about.

When you reply to someone, you say what kind of reply it is: agree, disagree, first-hand experience, or an aside. That way the thread reads clearly, and nobody has to guess what you meant.

You do not have to write a rival proposal to improve one. Suggest a change to it instead. If the authors take it in, the change goes into the text and you are credited as a co-author for good. If a change is ignored or turned down, either side can take it to the group.

Nothing published can be edited or deleted. So you read it once before you post it, and the record everyone argued over is the record that stays. Drafts are private and you can change them as much as you like. If you want to take back a point, you can set it aside. It folds to one line, and anyone can still open it.

Take the temperature. A quick poll of where the group stands, before anyone writes a proposal. What color theme for the flyer this year: blue, green or purple? It decides nothing and it expires on its own.

Close the small stuff by consent. "Unless someone objects by Friday, we go with the community hall." Silence agrees, but only at the deadline. An objection is not a vote against. It is a reason, and it goes on the record as a con.

Ask for advice before you decide. When a decision is yours to make, you can open a round that asks the group what you most need to know, then record what you decided and what advice you took.

Put one proposal to a yes or no vote. Your group sets how it passes and how many have to answer. The cost is stated before anyone votes. You can answer yes, no, abstain, or yes if a named change goes in. A conditional yes counts as a no this time, and it tells the author exactly what would make it a yes. While the vote is open, the words being voted on cannot change.

Choose between rival proposals. A vote across the rivals, counted the way your group chooses: a simple majority, a larger majority, or ranked choice. Ballots can change until the vote closes, and the full count goes on the record.

Anyone can ask for a vote. The people your group has trusted with opening one decide when.

When a yes or no vote passes, nobody has to send it on. The yes sends it to whoever your group trusts with the money, carrying the estimated cost the group decided before the vote. Its words stay fixed until that person decides.

Whoever closed the vote writes down what was decided, what the group learned getting there, and what happens next. That note becomes the headline at the top of the question. It can be amended, and the original stays one click away.

You can set a date to look at a decision again. On that day it comes back to you with three choices: it stands, look again later, or reopen it.

Once a plan is approved, you can note who is doing what and by when. People mark their own tasks done and can add evidence, so the person who signs off on the work can see it.

A proposal the group did not choose is not thrown away. It folds to one line, keeps its whole discussion, and can be reopened if things change.

Members can do almost everything that matters: ask, propose, weigh in, suggest changes and vote.

Sponsors look after the container. They invite people, set up the parts of the group, and give out the other roles. They get no extra weight in an argument.

Funding approvers are the people your group trusts to say yes to spending. Only they can approve a proposal or mark finished work complete. If one ever approves their own proposal, the page says so.

Moderators look after how people treat each other. They can hide a post that breaks the group's norms, and the author is always told why.

One person can hold several roles, and a role can cover the whole group or just one part of it. Every role is visible to everyone. Your group also writes down who has the last word on money, on its parts, on roles, on its rules and on its own name, where every member can read it.

Your Home page shows what needs you and what is waiting on you. At most one catch-up email a day, only when something happened. You can put Solvocracy on your phone's home screen and turn on notifications there.

The handbook, a step by step guide to every task, and a help assistant all live inside Solvocracy. The assistant answers from the handbook. It never tells your group what to decide, and it never judges your ideas.