Consent Process How-To

The Consent Process is how we make decisions at Cadence OneFive. It balances individual autonomy with collective wisdom - you make decisions about your work while getting input from people affected by those decisions.

We use the consent process for:

Quarterly workplans
Hiring decisions
Process changes
Feature prioritization
Budget requests
Anything that significantly affects the team

This guide shows you how to run a consent process effectively.

Key Roles

Proposer (that’s you!)

Identifies a problem or opportunity
Drafts the proposal
Runs the consent process
Takes responsibility for the decision
Can be anyone, regardless of role

Consent Stakeholders

People whose work is significantly affected
Must consent before proposal proceeds
Can raise concerns about “worth trying” or “safe to try”
Work with you to reshape the proposal
Don’t need to love the idea, just consent it’s worth trying AND safe to try

Advice Stakeholders

People with relevant expertise
Offer insights and suggestions
No veto power
You incorporate their input as makes sense

The Three Stages

1. Discovery: Understand the Problem

Ask questions to understand context
Clarify what you’re trying to solve
Identify who will be affected (your consent stakeholders)
Identify who has relevant expertise (your advice stakeholders)

2. Debate: Shape the Proposal

Surface concerns about worth and safety
Explore alternatives if needed
Identify risks and how to mitigate them
Adjust scope, timeline, or approach based on input
Goal: Find the version that’s worth trying AND safe to try

3. Decision: Finalize and Move Forward

Get explicit consent from all consent stakeholders
Document the final proposal
Communicate the decision and rationale
Set checkpoints for evaluation
Monitor outcomes and adjust as needed

What Makes a Good Proposal

Your proposal should answer:

What are you proposing?
Why is this worth trying?
Who does this affect? (Consent and advice stakeholders)
How long will this experiment run?
What could go wrong and how will you mitigate risks?
How will we know if this is working?

Don’t write a graduate thesis - just enough for stakeholders to understand and give meaningful input.

Use the consent proposal template.

You can run this async (comments on a doc, chat thread) or sync (meeting). Here’s a meeting format to start from:

Before the Meeting (Preparation)

Draft your proposal using the template
Identify your Consent and Advice Stakeholders
Share the proposal in advance
Schedule the meeting with enough time for people to read it

During the Meeting (45-60 minutes)

Opening (2-3 minutes)

Welcome everyone
Restate the purpose and key points of proposal

Clarifying Questions (5-10 minutes)

Participants ask questions to understand
You answer concisely and clarify ambiguities
Not a debate yet - just understanding

Reaction Round (10-15 minutes)

Each person shares initial thoughts, concerns, suggestions
Consent Stakeholders speak first
Everyone speaks without interruption
You take notes, don’t respond yet

Open Discussion (20-30 minutes)

Explore concerns and refine the proposal
You facilitate, ensuring all voices are heard
Work together to shape it into “worth trying AND safe to try”
Focus on the proposal, not tangents

Consent Round (5-10 minutes)

Each Consent Stakeholder states: “I consent” or “I have a concern about…”
If concerns remain, work to resolve them
Modify proposal until everyone consents

Closing (2-3 minutes)

Summarize the final proposal
Clarify next steps and checkpoints
Thank everyone for their input

After the Meeting (Follow-up)

Document the final decision and share it
Implement and monitor outcomes
Stay open to feedback and adjustments
If major changes needed, run a new consent process

Tips for Success

Stay focused on the proposal and its implications
Be open to modifying based on input - that’s the point
Consult our Community Norms for respectful communication
Document key points for transparency