Sunday, April 06, 2008

Noodlings, cat herding and Getting Things Done

Issue 1: There is a finite amount of people in the D'niverse community willing to step up and Do Things.

Issue 2: There are things that Could Be Done, often more numerous than the aformentioned people.

Issue 3: The D'niverse Community is Allergic to Initiative.

Issue 4: People who Take Charge are viewed with suspicion.

Issue 5: Commitment and Follow Through are not always priorities.

All of these snowball together to create a dynamic in the community of people spreading themselves too thin, burning out, things not getting completed, or people not taking charge of a project, and it flounders for lack of direction.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Agreed, I've seen this sort of thing happen far too many times. Many great projects abandoned due to these issues.

Anonymous said...

I'm pretty bad at this kind of thing.

With me it's not a lack of drive or direction (well there is a lack of drive when it comes to DJC), it's more lack of time as I do spread myself to thin.

Doesn't mean my projects don't get done, they just take a lot longer than planned. But when I run all my sites solo (as I doubt people would want to put up with my perfectionism) it's not to surprising I end up in such situations.

Marten said...

Rules of thumb for the spread-too-thin:
(1) Restrain perfectionist tendencies.
(2) Prioritize.
(3) Know your limits.
(4) See #1 again.

It's easy to become frustrated, to think "I could do a better job!". But you have to stop and think, "Could I? Really? With all the work I already have?"

Anonymous said...

from mszv

I think lots of stuff gets done, particularly since these are volunteer efforts, done by people who have lots of other things they need to do.

I think there is an issue in "telling others what to do". I It seems to me that most people appreciate the work that others have done, but aren't all that crazy about being around someone who wants to lead and that's it. After all, it's a group of volunteers.

At a place I worked it was described to me like this - if you "don't do windows", this is not the place for you. Here everyone "does windows".

Anyway - Mysterium, that's a great example of things getting done - a great new committee, and, from my outsider perspective, great things are happening. What could be better!