WIKI
Do-ocracy
Standing for the "democracy of the doing", Do-ocracy is where everyone participates, brings ideas and projects to life, as the anti-thesis of delegating a task to someone else.
At Kitchen Cheeks, if you want something done, do it! And always remain excellent with each other and the planet, while doing so. In practice, do-ocracy means all we do is participatory, from curating a recipe, and hands-on cooking a dish for our collective meal, to playing music or cleaning up. It applies to everything, except deep organizational changes. Overall, do-ocracy is a decentralized, self-organized way of deciding and managing how things get changed and improved at Kitchen Cheeks.
Creating spaces where trials and errors are celebrated, where we can all learn from each other.
Be accountable
If you make a change that isn't terribly easy to undo, such as moving a projector, or which has impacts that can't be undone, such as putting a video on the projector that's potentially triggering of epilepsy, it's good to be accountable to those impacted by the change. Make sure that people know who made the change, so that they can clarify what's going on and how they're impacted. Write notes, post in Slack or on the mailing list, make announcements in person. Let people know you're responsible for your change.
Be bold and take ownership
We have to crack eggs to make an omelet and that most of the time it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.
Use little-c consensus
If you're concerned that a change may be a little too impactful to just do, and you want to make sure it's ok to do, speak to the people who are likely to be impacted. Be willing to find outcomes that everyone can live with.
If you dissent with a doacratic motion, start a conversation, blocking without engagement to find compromise is not excellent.
Don't use an either/or approach
If the particular thing you want to do is not supported by small-c consensus, either before or after the fact, explore other options. Try to achieve everyone's end goals, while being flexible with how you get there. It's often not the case that your only options are Do What You Want To Do vs. Do What They Want To Do look for a compromise. Usually you can find some other, third path to things which everyone can live with.
Be compassionate
Because it really sucks to have one's project trashed, or a workshop turned inside out by a project, or the like, you may find that you've Do-ocratically done something that makes someone irritated. While it's not Excellent for them to be aggressive or hostile, you should expect that they may be upset. Be patient and compassionate.
Don't be a dick
Even though it is extremely inconvenient to come back to a shop where everything is not where you left it, don't be a dick to the person who did it. Aggression and hostility should be expected; as a positive disruptor. Think first before you (re)act to the situation before you.
Do-er's Decide, Non-Do-er's Stand Aside
If you're not willing or able to put in the time or effort to hack, don't stand in the way of the people who are are. If you have opinions, be willing to hack. Offering advice is fine, but it's usually good to ask if it's wanted, and if not, don't give it.
Open collective
"If we want to go fast, go alone. If we want to go far, go together." — African proverb
We believe in the power of the collective. Interconnected individuals, with distinctive creativity, critical thinking, disciplines and backgrounds, come together to join forces to bring a shared vision to life.
Counter-current to a predominant swipe culture, we stand for long-lasting meaningful connections, strong interpersonal bonds and friendships. We care about creating spaces where one can show up as a stranger, and instantly belong.
We are a group of individuals choosing to come together for a shared purpose: in times of a societal crisis, we take the matter into our own hands and redefine what a desirable reality looks like, one redefined by slow horizontal consumption instead of top-down hyperconsumption, hands-on crafts instead of bullsh*t jobs, and radical conviviality instead of individualism.
At Kitchen Cheeks, everyone is welcome to join our open collective and contribute with their differences. We are all in for peer-to-peer dynamics, mutual participation, shared ownership and responsibility, and a sense of unity and cooperation for achieving our common goals.
Our collective is open by design, following the do-ocracy principles. It means one can choose to take part or not, both in first-time access
Cultivating friendships
In big cities, it's often easier to meet new people than to nurture existing friendships. Kitchen Cheeks is all about building and cultivating strong bonds with each other beyond the small talk. Here is what friendship mean to us:
Friendship is a close and mutual bond of affection, trust, and support between two or more people. It is characterized by companionship, understanding, and a shared sense of care and respect. Friendship contributes to emotional well-being, personal growth, and a sense of belonging. It fosters happiness, reduces stress, and helps individuals navigate life’s challenges.
Key Aspects of Friendship:
1. Mutual Trust: building trust enables to feel safe sharing thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
2. Support and appreciation: being there for each other in times of joy and hardship, lows and highs, introvert and extrovert, social and asocial.
3. Respect: respecting each other’s boundaries, differences, individuality, background and choices.
4. Affection: demonstrating warmth and genuine liking for one another.
5. Shared Experiences: growing stronger through shared moments and memories.