[Voltairine]’s Guide To Not Being A Jerk In Collective Processes In 8 Easy Steps
quixotess asked you:This is a bit of a strange question, but I’m thinking of joining my “cultural council” at work which is like…talk about problems and stuff and try to work out solutions and then maybe present them to corporate. It’s a good time to join because there’s a new lead who I respect. It’s not exactly like a co-op or organizing for justice, but I thought there might be some similar dynamics/behaviors. Can you maybe give me a basic rundown on how not to be a jerk, what to expect and other various tips?
So this was a really neat/interesting ask to get.
I have some personal ground rules for any kind of collective organizing and/or decision making process. I’ve developed these through years of slogging through these processes and seeing just about every way they can go wrong, as well as a lot of ways that they can work, and I find that it’s pretty easy for me now to tell in a group when my ground rules aren’t being respected and aren’t going to be respected. There are red flags to watch out for with each one, and if I reach a certain limit of red flags, I tend to bail.
So uh I guess I will just list my rules? Yeah.
this is incredibly useful and actually quite succinct given how much wisdom is in it, read the whole thing. this list also applies to much decision making outside social movement work.
file under: things I wish I’d known five if not ten years ago (and I’m only 23 so uh, they’re really useful is what i’m trying to say)
