Thursday, August 28, 2014

The group, part 1

Build goodwill in the community.

This is by and far the most important thing a group or an individual can do. The community and people outside the group provides a defense against others who speak out against it. The community provides greater strength and support through helpful donations. It is not the job of the Group or Individual to take advantage of this. The strength of the group is proportional to the strength of the community it is in. Take time to educate the children, because in time they are the ones who will carry on the legacy. Do not ignore the adults, at best they have a wealth of experience that can help in many projects, at worst they are jaded and cynical; they feel that nothing will or can change. Show them the fruits of their efforts.

Build structure within the group.

The idea that bothers me. In truth this is simple, with everyone from Machiavelli to Confucius  commenting on how a leader should act and how the structure should work. The ones with knowledge, a history of good decision making, and ambition is at the top, while the ones without experience are at the bottom. This is routinely messed up. A person's school does not make them a good leader, their family history does not make them creative or an intellectual. Education and ability to reason does not improve with wealth or money. How to structure the group? Find a way, because with dead weight at the top, the rewards are spent to make people feel good about themselves. And with too much weight on the bottom, there's no motivation and anarchy ensues.

Reward

Rewards aren't always money. In a society that prizes possessions,  it easy to believe that money is a reward, because money buys dreams. Money is a hell of a motivator, and money can be used well.  Money can be used for good deeds, to wield influence over others, maybe even buy happiness. For a group starting out, or maybe even an older group, rewards can come in the things that are needed. Food, a place to live, the ability to make decisions.

Thanks for sticking through a combination of the stuff I've been reading lately. This is a part one, because items need to be expanded later.

1 comment:

  1. I'm all about building goodwill, so we are on the same page.

    There's something in my mind that always thinks that "structure" is best when it develops out of a natural leader rising to the top of the group, and natural workers finding a perfect niche.

    There's a running joke about rewards, though - when I worked, if they couldn't give you money, they gave you a really long title that sounded important. I'd love to give you my last title, but it would put too much out there in Internet-Land, ha ha.

    Go, Samuel, go. :-)

    ReplyDelete