How do we distinguish between Inner Rings and Groups of Sound Craftsmen?
The essay’s answer to this is solid, and has steered me well:
In any wholesome group of people which holds together for a good purpose, the exclusions are in a sense accidental. Three or four people who are together for the sake of some piece of work exclude others because there is work only for so many or because the others can’t in fact do it. Your little musical group limits its numbers because the rooms they meet in are only so big. But your genuine Inner Ring exists for exclusion. There’d be no fun if there were no outsiders. The invisible line would have no meaning unless most people were on the wrong side of it. Exclusion is no accident; it is the essence.
My own experience supports this being the crucial difference. I’ve encountered a few groups where the exclusion is the main purpose of the group, *and* the exclusion is based on reasonably good judgments of competence. These groups strike me as pathological and corrupting in the way that Lewis describes. I’ve also encountered many groups where exclusion is only “accidental”, and also the people are very bad at judging competence. These groups certainly have their problems, but they don’t have the particular issues that Lewis describes.
I’m not sure in which category you would put it, but as a counterpoint, Team Cohesion and Exclusionary Egalitarianism argues that for some groups, exclusion is at least partially essential and that they are better off for it:
… you find this pattern across nearly all elite American Special Forces type units — (1) an exceedingly difficult bar to get in, followed by (2) incredibly loose, informal, collegial norms with nearly-infinitely less emphasis on hierarchy and bureaucracy compared to all other military units.
To even “try out” for a Special Forces group like Delta Force or the Navy SEAL Teams, you have to be among the most dedicated, most physically fit, and most competent of soldier.
Then, the selection procedures are incredibly intense — only around 10% of those who attend selection actually make the cut.
This is, of course, exclusionary.
But then, seemingly paradoxically, these organizations run with far less hierarchy, formal authority, and traditional military decorum than the norm. They run… far more egalitarian than other traditional military unit. [...]
Going back [...] [If we search out the root causes of “perpetual bickering” within many well-meaning volunteer organizations] we can find a few right away —
*When there’s low standards of trust among a team, people tend to advocate more strongly for their own preferences. There’s less confidence on an individual level that one’s own goals and preferences will be reached if not strongly advocated for.
*Ideas — especially new ideas — are notoriously difficult to evaluate. When there’s been no objective standard of performance set and achieved by people who are working on strategy and doctrine, you don’t know who has the ability to actually implement their ideas and see them through to conclusion.
*Generally at the idea phase, people are maximally excited and engaged. People are often unable to model themselves to know how they’ll perform when the enthusiasm wears off.
*In the absence of previously demonstrated competence, people might want to show they’re fit for a leadership role or key role in decisionmaking early, and might want to (perhaps subconsciously) demonstrate prowess at making good arguments, appearing smart and erudite, etc.
And of course, many more issues.
Once again, this is often resolved by hierarchy — X person is in charge. In the absence of everyone agreeing, we’ll do what X says to do. Because it’s better than the alternative.
But the tradeoffs of hierarchical organizations are well-known, and hierarchical leadership seems like a fit for some domains far moreso than others.
On the other end of the spectrum, it’s easy when being egalitarian to not actually have decisions get made and fail to have valuable work getting done. For all the flaws of hierarchical leadership, it does tend to resolve the “perpetual bickering” problem.
From both personal experience and a pretty deep immersion into the history of successful organizations, it looks like often an answer is an incredibly high bar to joining followed by largely decentralized, collaborative, egalitarian decisionmaking.
I think the case of limiting meetings because the room is only so big is too easy. What about limiting membership because you want only the best researchers in your org? (Or what if it’s a party or retreat for AI safety people—OK to limit membership to only the best researchers?) There’s a good reason for selecting based on competence, obviously. But now we are back to the problem I started with, which is that every Inner Circle probably presents itself (and thinks of itself) as excluding based on competence.
The essay’s answer to this is solid, and has steered me well:
My own experience supports this being the crucial difference. I’ve encountered a few groups where the exclusion is the main purpose of the group, *and* the exclusion is based on reasonably good judgments of competence. These groups strike me as pathological and corrupting in the way that Lewis describes. I’ve also encountered many groups where exclusion is only “accidental”, and also the people are very bad at judging competence. These groups certainly have their problems, but they don’t have the particular issues that Lewis describes.
I’m not sure in which category you would put it, but as a counterpoint, Team Cohesion and Exclusionary Egalitarianism argues that for some groups, exclusion is at least partially essential and that they are better off for it:
Thanks, this is helpful!
EDIT: more thoughts:
I think the case of limiting meetings because the room is only so big is too easy. What about limiting membership because you want only the best researchers in your org? (Or what if it’s a party or retreat for AI safety people—OK to limit membership to only the best researchers?) There’s a good reason for selecting based on competence, obviously. But now we are back to the problem I started with, which is that every Inner Circle probably presents itself (and thinks of itself) as excluding based on competence.