co-operative lifestyle - invitation to come back to rochdale
DESCRIPTION
Co-operatives are organizations that, by definition, adhere to a certain set of values and principles. The values were first formulated in Rochdale, where the first co-operative was founded. These values and principles, as any values and principles, should permeate the lifestyles of all those who identify with them. Individuals' exposure to these values and principles will vary between worker co-ops and other types of co-ops. While members of a co-operative bank or consumer coop may only visit once a week, in a worker co-op, people are exposed to the co-operative values for 8 hours a day. Geof Cox noted on LinkedIn that as such, worker co-ops may be considered a "lifestyle business". Unlike values, lifestyle can easily be measured. Marketing specialists in the USA or Canada may quite reliably identify your lifestyle if you give them your postal code; doctors can conjecture it from seeing you for just a few seconds. Sociologists may deduce how you live from your taste - i.e. aesthetic choices. We simultaneously expose our lifestyle and are exposed, continuously, to the lifestyle of others. Some lifestyles spread like viruses creating a pandemic of consumerism. However, these product-based lifestyles are in complete opposition to the person-oriented lifestyle of: “self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity, solidarity, honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others.” Indeed, to follow the co-operative lifestyle seems more difficult now than it was in Rochdale times. One of the first and more important reasons is related to our mobility and flexibility. In 1980, futurist Alvin Toffler predicted that as our society's work patterns become increasingly individualized, it would lead to greater social isolation due to a reduction in common "off-work" time (e.g. Sunday church services, evenings at the pub, community gatherings). Toffler observes that we structure relationships differently now; rather than spending a lifetime getting to know our neighbours in a small village, we might meet and make new friends every week; and yet, we also drift apart more quickly - as we move on to a new sports team, a new job, a new city of residence. This shortening of the duration of our relationships has impacted many aspects of our everyday life - including our relationship to co-operatives. Now, people follow work, and not the other way round. The Rochdale pioneers did not dream about the challenges a community-based business has to face today. In slide 7 I show the complexity of a modern lifestyle. I would like to investigate to what degree an individual's lifestyle impacts the functioning of a worker co-op. I am conducting a participatory research project of co-operative lifestyles today. I would like to invite co-operatives and their members not just to fill in questionnaires, but work together on developing them, in a true participatory approach.TRANSCRIPT
Co-operative Lifestyle
Invitation to come back to Rochdale !
Saint Mary’s University, Halifax MIK, University of Mondragon University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Katowice !Presented at Canadian Worker Co-op Federation CoopZone Conference Wolfville, Nov. 6-8, 2014
Ryszard Stocki
Rochdalecc RHL Images, from flickr.com
New (ICA) version of Rochdale Values and Principles
• Values: self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity, solidarity, honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others.
• Principles:
1. Voluntary and open membership 2. Democratic member control 3. Member economic participation 4. Autonomy and independence 5. Education, training and information 6. Co-operation among co-operatives 7. Concern for community
Are Rochdale times gone? !
Our main question is…
…why co-operatives have more and more difficulties to live up to their values and principles and, stay competitive and
attractive workplaces at the same time.
There are many ways to answer the question.
Motivation
Values
Generation
Life experience
Income
Social Roles
Career path
Market change
Family issues
Ownership
Management skills
Habits
Education
Expertise
ParticipationInvestment
Policy
Interests
4
seem good to start with, but they are very difficult to operationalize and measure. Much easier to
measure seems to be…
ValuesExpertise
LifestyleWhat is more, it is closely related to what co-
operatives do.
Lifestyle has been the subject of many disciplines but four most distinctive are:
2. Lifestyle medicine shows cruel evidence of what is happening to us due to thoughtless consumption.
3. Lifestyle exposure to victimization shows how our lifestyles make us victims of crimes.
1. Marketing research investigates and utilizes the concept to make us consume and spend more and more.
6
4. Sociology and ethnography try to make sense of social changes related to lifestyles and propose a research agenda.
If you try to put all this research together…
!Co-op’s Decision Making Practice !
Governance Adherence to Co-op Values & Principles
!Economic
Effectiveness
!Social
Effectiveness
H1
H2
H3
H4
H5
H6
H7
RTrade-off
expected in short
time perspective
Values CV&P
Coping / expertise
Expo
sure
to
cons
umer
life
styl
e -
in M
edia
, Lei
sure
, Wor
k, E
duca
tion Vocational (Co-operative lifestyle)
Personal Demographics
Psychological Constraints
Adaptive - Accommodative
lifestyle
Social change lifestyle
Transformative lifestyle
Adaptive -Assimilative
lifestyle
Economic Constraints
Institutional & legal structural
constraints
Experiential lifestyle
Social and cultural
constraints
Educational constraints
Familial/community constraints
Lifestyle
Situational contraints
Geographic contraints
Affect
Informational contraints (Media)
Reactive
Proactive
Educational/ traininig and development
Decision making
Nutritional Decision Making
Leisure Time Decision Making
Family Decision Making
Health
Well-being/Happiness
Transcendence - Becoming a better
person
Investment and Purchasing
Decision Making
!Individual social and
personal impact
!Love
!Business (strategic)
Expertise
Lifestyle expertise in personal
transcendence
(Macro)Economic (political) Expertise
R
R
Lifestyle expertise in interpersonal
relations
Lifestyle expertise in nutrition
Lifestyle expertise in physical activity
Lifestyle expertise in family relations
RLeisure - home lifestyle
…the picture becomes very complicated. So let us extract some key elements.
etc.
Inco
me
Free
tim
e
Cha
ract
er (
virt
ues)
= d
irec
ting
will
to
valu
es
Expe
rtis
e Adaptive - Accommodative
lifestyle
Social change lifestyle
Transformative lifestyle
Adaptive -Assimilative
lifestyle
Experiential lifestyle
Reactive
Proactive
Although there are many factors that influence
our lifestyle that are independent
of us. Many others depend
on us.
Lifestyle medicine and criminology
give ample examples that we can change our
lifestyles.
We only have to remember that we do not have to be reactive
but freely shape our lives.
Adaptive - Accommodative
lifestyle
Social change lifestyle
Transformative lifestyle
Adaptive -Assimilative
lifestyle
Experiential lifestyle
Reactive
Proactive
Cul
tura
l exp
osur
e to
rea
ctiv
e lif
esty
le
Voca
tiona
l exp
osur
e to
pro
activ
e lif
esty
le
!Business (strategic)
Expertise
Lifestyle expertise in personal transcendence
(Macro)Economic (political) Expertise
R
R
Lifestyle expertise in interpersonal relations
Lifestyle expertise in nutrition
Lifestyle expertise in physical activity
Lifestyle expertise in family relations
R
Expe
rtis
e
We can do it if we increase our expertise and redesign our workplaces to show how proactive lifestyle can counter the reactive, consumer lifestyle of
mass culture.
Contemporary empirical research on lifestyles
does not seem satisfactory enough. We need to implement two
rules.
Practical
Propositional = theory
Presentational
Experiential
Forms of knowledge
Rule 1. We need a general lifestyle theory. From the times of Copernicus, we know that sometimes we have to deduce a theory that cannot be empirically proven.
Nicolaus Copernicus lived from 1473 to 1543 but parallaxes, an
empirical proof of his theory was first observed as late as 1838.
Practical
Propositional
Presentational
Experiential
Forms of knowledge
John Heron (1928 - now) claims “We get deeper information about the nature of our
realities when our prime concern is to develop practical skills which change these
realities.” Co-operative Inquiry, p. 114
Rule 2. A sound lifestyle theory has to be practically relevant for co-operatives. The only way to develop such a theory is co-operation with co-operatives.
I would like to do research not “on” co-
operatives, but “with” co-operatives so we could
test the following model:
!!!!!!!!!
Vocational (Co-operative
lifestyle)
!External
and internal constraints
Adaptive - Accommodative
lifestyle
Social change lifestyle
Transformative lifestyle
Adaptive -Assimilative
lifestyle
Experiential lifestyle
Reactive
Proactive
!Business (strategic)
Expertise
Lifestyle expertise in personal transcendence
(Macro)Economic (political) Expertise
R
R
Lifestyle expertise in interpersonal relations
R
!Co-op’s Decision Making Practice !
Governance Adherence to Co-op Values & Principles
!Economic
Effectiveness
!Social
Effectiveness
H1
H2
H3
H4
H5
H6
H7
RTrade-off
expected in short
time perspective
Cul
tura
l exp
osur
e
We will focus on four groups of variables in the large grey square.
1. Expertise 2. Lifestyle 3. Co-operative practice 4. Results
Organizational practices
CoopIndex 2.0O
rgan
izatio
nal r
epor
t
Personaliz
ed confidential reports
for
willing m
embers and employees
Individual lifestyle and expertise
This research shall result in the development of a new tool
for co-operative diagnosis.
The tool will assist not only co-operatives but also individual
members in their personal development.
What are participating co-ops’s
• Thorough diagnosis of a co-op including individuals’ position on the lifestyle line and their expertise.
• Individual and organizational development.
• Improving teamwork.
• Time and a facilitator to reflect on co-operative values and principles and possible directions in the contemporary world.
• Making the co-op a more attractive workplace.
• Risk of wasting time if no action is performed on the basis of the results.
• Possible resignations of persons who find themselves unfit for co-operative values.
• Emotional stress related to going out of comfort zone.
• Cost related to organizing workshops and meetings.
• Necessity to cover future costs to continue the project.
17
gains risks
What’s next? Deadlines
• December: Individual interviews
• January: Development of a draft of all diagnostic methods.
• February: Two-hour online webinar about the methods and consulting/research.
• February: Draft versions of all the tools and documents ready for inspection.
• March: Declarations to participate in the Isomorphism project and selection of participants
• April 2015 - March 2016: The consulting/research project.
If you are interested in this research and its results write to
[email protected] Thank you!
!
!
!
!
Research in several co-ops in Canada and the Basque Country is sponsored by the European Union