Read and follow up on The Tyranny of Structurelessness by Jo Freeman to avoid some basic errors common to high-intellect groups. Around 6,500 words, written in 1970-1972 for feminist groups but applicable to many kinds of groups. The basic error: thinking everyone involved has the same goals and skills and therefore no need exists for a formal decision making process. And no need exists for a formal means to eject members of the household.
For everyone to have the opportunity to be involved in a given group and to participate in its activities the structure must be explicit, not implicit. The rules of decision-making must be open and available to everyone, and this can happen only if they are formalized. This is not to say that formalization of a structure of a group will destroy the informal structure. It usually doesn’t. But it does hinder the informal structure from having predominant control and make available some means of attacking it if the people involved are not at least responsible to the needs of the group at large. “Structurelessness” is organizationally impossible. We cannot decide whether to have a structured or structureless group, only whether or not to have a formally structured one. Therefore the word will not be used any longer except to refer to the idea it represents. Unstructured will refer to those groups which have not been deliberately structured in a particular manner. Structured will refer to those which have. A Structured group always has formal structure, and may also have an informal, or covert, structure. It is this informal structure, particularly in Unstructured groups, which forms the basis for elites.
...Dear Princess Celestia, today I learned that Mencius Moldbug has apparently stolen his idea of “formalism” from the 1970s era Women’s Liberation movement.
Fortnightly house meetings are a minimum in my experience. These provide a forum where it’s expected to raise niggles, reducing the social pressure to keep quiet about them.
Read and follow up on The Tyranny of Structurelessness by Jo Freeman to avoid some basic errors common to high-intellect groups. Around 6,500 words, written in 1970-1972 for feminist groups but applicable to many kinds of groups. The basic error: thinking everyone involved has the same goals and skills and therefore no need exists for a formal decision making process. And no need exists for a formal means to eject members of the household.
...Dear Princess Celestia, today I learned that Mencius Moldbug has apparently stolen his idea of “formalism” from the 1970s era Women’s Liberation movement.
(Seriously though, excellent essay.)
Fortnightly house meetings are a minimum in my experience. These provide a forum where it’s expected to raise niggles, reducing the social pressure to keep quiet about them.