Gerard Endenburg
Dutch businessman (1933–2025)
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Gerard Endenburg (14 April 1933 – 29 July 2025) was a Dutch businessman who developed the Sociocratic Circle Organisation Method (SCM), which is a decision-making method for governing and managing organizations and societies based on equivalence and draws inspiration from cybernetics. Endenburg was inspired by the idea of sociocracy of Kees Boeke.
Gerard Endenburg | |
|---|---|
Endenburg in 2018 | |
| Born | 14 April 1933 Rotterdam, Netherlands |
| Died | 29 July 2025 (aged 92) Rotterdam, Netherlands |
| Alma mater | University of Twente |
| Known for | Sociocracy |
Life and career
Endenburg was born in Rotterdam on 14 April 1933.[1] He was a Quaker, and attended a Quaker boarding school, the Werkplaats Kindergemeenschap [Children's Community Workshop], where he was influenced by Kees Boeke and his wife Betty Cadbury and the ideas of sociocracy.[1] The school involved students in consensus decision-making.
He became general manager of his family's engineering company, Endenburg Elektrotechniek BV, in the mid-1960s, and in the 1970s started pioneering and applying the sociocratic method of organizing within the company.[1] In 1978, Endenburg founded the Sociocratic Center Netherlands to develop and implement the sociocratic approach in other organizations, serving as its director.[1] In 1992, Endenburg obtained a doctoral degree from the University of Twente, based on his dissertation Sociocratie als Sociaal Ontwerp, translated into English as Sociocracy as Social Design.[2] Endenburg was an honorary professor in Organizational Learning at Maastricht University.[3]
Endenburg died in Rotterdam on 29 July 2025, at the age of 92.[4]
Bibliography
- Sociocracy as Social Design: its characteristics and course of development, as theoretical design and practical project. Translated by Pearson, Murray; Bowden, Clive. Delft: Eburon. 1998. ISBN 978-90-5166-604-5. OCLC 67947732.
- Sociocracy: the Organization of Decision-Making: "no objection" as the Principle of Sociocracy. Translated by Bowden, Clive. Delft: Eburon. 1998. ISBN 978-90-5166-605-2. OCLC 41641481.