Holacracy Basics: Integrating a Not Valid Governance Output (NVGO) Objection

• A NVGO objection means the proposal breaks a rule of the constitution — the testing of which should have revealed a concrete explanation (i.e. “What part of the proposal breaks what rule?”) Therefore, integrating a NVGO objection is usually straightforward and should be prioritized ahead of other objections (and if you’re not the facilitator, then pitch them on doing it first).
• Typically whoever raised the NVGO objection will have provided sufficient reasoning and therefore should be able to suggest a solution. Therefore, integration should start with the objector answering the question, “What can be added or changed to make the proposal valid output?” However, the objector is only expected to work towards finding a solution, not necessarily provide the solution. So, if the objector is unable to think of a solution, contributions from others should be encouraged.
• If the modified proposal no longer has the original issue, but is still invalid output, then do not consider the objection integrated. For example, if a proposal making an operational decision (not valid output) has been changed into an “accountability,” but it’s not really an ongoing action (and therefore doesn’t meet the constitutional definition of an accountability), then the objection stands. In order to consider the NVGO objection resolved, the output must be valid.
• The most common grounds for a NVGO objection in early practice is that the proposal isn’t a change to governance (i.e. a change to roles, domains, or policies), but is an operational decision (e.g. “We should start a monthly newsletter.”) In these cases, the easiest solution is to translate the proposal into a minimally sufficient accountability, or a new role if the accountability doesn’t fit any current roles (e.g. Accountability: “Publishing monthly newsletter”). Of course, resolving the NVGO objection only means that the proposal is now valid output, the proposal may have other objections regarding its content.

Read “Introducing the Holacracy Practitioner Guide” to find more articles.