Laird's Commentary on Community and Consensus

For 25+ years I’ve been a community networker & group process consultant. I believe that people today are starved for community—for a greater sense of belonging and connection—and I’ve dedicated my life to making available as widely as possible the tools and inspiration of cooperative living. I’m on the road half the time teaching groups consensus, meeting facilitation, and how to work with conflict. This blog is a collection of my observations and musings along the way.

Thursday, October 31, 2024

Thoughts About HOA Governance

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Recently, a friend was visiting, telling me with some excitement about a condominium that she and her daughter are having build for them. Th...
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Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Books That Have Touched Me Most

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Last week, a friend asked me for a list of the books that have most impacted my life. As that seemed a compelling request, I am happy to sha...
Saturday, August 31, 2024

Remembering Ceilee

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As I reported in my previous blog, my son, Ceilee, died Aug 5. He was 43. While many family and friends were impacted by his death, I have b...
Wednesday, August 7, 2024

On Ceilee Dying at 43

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This week I got a call I never wanted to receive, informing me that my son, Ceilee, had been found dead in his bathroom, apparently of a dru...
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Tuesday, July 9, 2024

The Relative Fluidity of Community Values and the Permanence of Community Buildings

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Looking back over my 50 years of personal experience with intentional community, I have some things to say about the role of common values i...
Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Happy 50th Sandhill Farm!

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Today I'm offering a kaleidoscope of memories from my first five years at Sandhill Farm, on the occasion of its Golden Anniversary. Exac...
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Thursday, February 15, 2024

Trusting Your Gut as a Facilitator

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For the last two decades, the most complex and fun thing I do on a regular basis is train facilitators for working in cooperative culture. F...
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About Me

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Laird Schaub
Rutledge, Missouri, United States
I lived in intentional community for 41 years: 39 years at Sandhill Farm (a small, income-sharing community I helped found in 1974 in northeast Missouri). In 2016 I relocated to Duluth MN, to start an intimate partnership with Susan Anderson. I've been in Duluth ever since. For 28 years (1987-2015) I was integrally involved with the Fellowship for Intentional Community (since rebranded as the Foundation for Intentional Community)—a North American network dedicated to providing the information and inspiration of cooperative living to the widest possible audience. Recognizing the value of what is being learned in intentional communities about how to solve problems collaboratively and work constructively with conflict, I started a part-time career as a process consultant in 1987. Although I've retired from FIC, I have continued my career as a process consultant working with cooperative groups. While that used to entail being on the road about once a month, all of that changed in March 2020. Since the pandemic I've learned to adapt to Zoom and most of my work is delivered via that medium today—yet I still travel when the client wants me in the room.
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