Difference between revisions of "Do-ocracy"

You Can Do It

The following is a conversation between Brandon and Julia about the concept of the do-ocracy. It is very much in its raw form!

There is more work to be done than people to do it.

Those that do the work make the decisions.

This term is related to adhocracy. Adhocracy is a do-ocracy with an additional component of conflict resolution structure built in. Where there is a conflict over an important responsibility, the leadership is assumed by the person who has the most whuffie, earned from the do-ocray. Whuffie is the esteem of your community. (Cory Doctorow's "down and out in the magic kingdom". THere are two kinds of whuffie... right handed & left handed whuffie. One is the unweighted esteem of the community while the other is what those who you respect think of that person.

Concern about do-ocracy is the overwhelming of those who are more timid. Turn-taking ... be bold. Guidelines on how to engage in the do-ocracy. Dealing with bullies and bullying and people with lots of time.

Truck endurance contest ... put your hand on the truck, last person standing (with hand on truck wins it).

Edit wars and editing policies.

One of the assumptions often made is that there is no structure in a do-ocracy or adhocracy. The tyranny of the anti-structuralist. Nothing gets done because there is not mechanism to make contentious decisions quickly.

Conflict-resolution. Nebulous... those who do the work have more power to set policy.

In an adhocracy everyone has a fixed set of resources... their own time. As you do good things (or waste) with it, you can direct more of your time. Adding value... this is the combination of quality changes and quantity.

A piece that is essential is a framework that helps newcomers learn how to add value, and a community that supports them as they learn.

Bookend this article with a welcoming message and links to resources that we do have for supporting new community members. End it with contact info (irc, emails, talk pages, how to connect with real people).

Whuffie is broken when the determinations of whuffie are based on aggressiveness, violence or bullying.

Conflict resolution: when there is a conflict, if both parties know their roles, no violence occurs.

Doesn't do-ocracy call for equal ground? Sort of yes.

If no one is doing the work you want to do, just do it and add value, people will appreciate it. This is how leadership is build.

Entitlement.

Takes time to deal with conflict.

Common in wiki world for new comers to jump in and overwhelm the

This is an entitlement thing ... those who will prosper and do more are those who feel entitled to jump in. Those are not necessarily bullies.

Breaking down barriers to technological fluency. Creating an environment where otherwise disenfranchised users feel warmly welcomed to join in.

Putting out clear indicators of what the wiki culture expects:

• You don't get to smack down newcomers because that is not the wiki way
• You don't get to come in and overwhelm the community because that is not the wiki way either

We need a to do list:

• Wiki culture article (wiki way)
• Technological fluency
• Whuffie article
• The September that never ended: Usenet was the first place where folks interacted on the web. At first, it was mostly university students who interacted. So, each September, there was a need to disseminate knowledge & culture of news groups. By 1995, it was no longer just university students as the general public latched on to news groups. Net etiquette needed to be taught to everyone, always... the endless September. The number of newbies outstripped the ability of those who were well-versed in net etiquette to teach them the culture. As a result news groups have not thrive.

So, much of the Tragedy of the information commons happens when newbies don't know the culture and experience can't keep up.

The challenge for AboutUs does not lie in technology, but in our ability to disseminate the wiki way.

Tension between openness and accountability. Take responsibility.

How AboutUs Can Do It

Entitlement: Not everyone feels the same level of entitlement.