[IGDA_indies] newbies, and organizational politics

[Brandon J. Van Every]

Jon Bonnell wrote:
>
> I'd only add a little more information on how to get involved
> and evoke
> change beyond just participating in the forums might be a
> start.  Let the
> membership know how they can effect change and make the
> organization better
> instead of sitting around and waiting for something to happen
> to them.
>
> I've been a member now for 6-7 months and I haven't seen any
> information on
> that.  Then, truly, it is the member's problem for not
> getting involved; not making things better.

Do not be quite so sure it is simply the member's fault.  I'm not saying
that in order to rake mud.  Jason has, for instance, been quite generous
with his ear.  But Jason's ear does not equal effective organization
across the IGDA, or good orienteering for newbies.  I felt rather lost
and 'blind' when first joining the IGDA.  The only reason I found any
channels of communication was because I was aggressive, dogged, and had
previous experience with volunteer organizations.  I know what makes an
org's heart beat.  Lacking experience with orgs, a newbie can easily get
lost and become disenfranchised.

What to do about that?  Well, tangible proposals are best.
Unfortunately, my proposals weren't wanted, so I never made it to the
stage of orienting newbies.

Here's the reality of any volunteer organization: it's herding cats.
Some people are better cat wranglers than others, and different people
have different skills in different situations.  I'll never forget the
night I made the Fremont Arts Council make peace, using quiet words.
Me, the guy who's usually starting every argument out there.  But I had
the level head for the animosity that was being displayed at the time.

So, what can anyone do to organize better?

1) You can spend a lot of time and energy trying to get everyone to
agree upon a course of action.  For resource intensive projects,
unfortunately that's all you can do.

2) You can do end-runs around everyone else.  If you work on things that
people don't have the will to oppose, and that don't require much in the
way of people or resources, you can just do them.

People habitually disposed to (2) will often run afoul of the
Gatekeepers of (1).  They typically claim that a project is very
resource intensive and therefore must not be undertaken, regardless of
actual resources that would be consumed.  More rational Gatekeepers will
talk about things being "against the mission statement," which leaves
some room for debate.  But if a Gatekeeper start talking about "threats
to the organization" then you're really in trouble, because now you're
dealing with their emotional issues about the organization.

These political tussles are generally resolved by either end-running
faster, becoming 'low profile on the radar' to get things done, or
appealing to a higher authority that has less of a personal stake in the
matter.  (For instance, in the case of the Fremont Arts Council, a
proposal put to the entire Committee Of The Whole.  Basically a room of
20..100 people).  I refer to the tussle between (1) and (2) as
'Organizational Friction'.  All volunteer orgs have it; skill in an org
means minimizing it.

So what tangibles have we laid out so far?

- certain courses of action don't require any talk
- someone's setting up roundtables in Texas
- some of us are interested in setting up an Indie SIG in Seattle

These are all Type (2) End-Runs.  As one might expect from a bunch of
indies.  :-)

If you try to tackle IGDA organizational problems, you might want to
think in those terms.  Sorry to use you as the whipping boy, Jason, but
glibly put, "What can you do that Jason or some board member can't tell
you not to do?"  I'm not saying you should cut Jason or other useful
people out of the loop.  I'm saying, if you can come up with a plan that
doesn't require them, you've greatly enhanced your odds of success.
That doesn't necessarily mean they do a bad job.  It means that plans
with few to no dependencies are more powerful than plans that require a
lot of people to agree.


Cheers,                     www.indiegamedesign.com
Brandon Van Every           Seattle, WA

When no one else sells courage, supply and demand take hold.