Posted by Wallabee on July 10, 2000, at 10:36:59
In reply to Re: Dr. Bob - Micro and Macro Boards?Yes, Shar, posted by Noa on July 8, 2000, at 9:48:04
I only discovered this board a few days ago.
I work as an executive director in the charitable sector and I have spent the past few years successfully leading community based organizations through periods of crisis (I actually think that in learning to live successfully with manic depression I have developed some formidable skills at coping with crisis/the unexpected) and growth characterized by:
* tension between the expectations of some "oldtimers" - particularly founding members, and newcomers - largely around the questions of "who are we" and "what do we want to be". Often the group's focus or purpose shifts or expands from that originally intended by the founder.
* issues of capacity and structure - how will we support growth, who will lead this growth, how will we govern ourselves, etc.
Dr. Bob, this is a wonderful site, and a tremendous achievement. As a newcomer I have yet to witness or be bothered by whatever issues gave rise to this thread in the first place. Nevertheless, many of the comments in the thread have useful suggestions for the site's improvement. Some suggestions I would make, based on my professional experience, if you really want to see the site maintain its vitality and become the best that it could be are:
* Be prepared to let go of the board as "your own",
* get help, lots of it. There are many people who work in the area of organizational development and specialize in and have a great deal of experience facilitating the transition this board is going through. I think you could find someone who would jump at the chance of doing it on the net. I am not in the US, so cannot give specific examples, but there must be established charities - actual organizations - whose missions would make them interested in lending a resource hand in supporting the board through this process of growth (perhaps some other posters have suggestions on who these might be). In canada the United Way maintains a service of volunteer consultants who help small organizations (or community groups struggling with the need to become organizations) deal with this stuff.
Some other observations:
* The first thing that struck me about this board is that it is way too much for one person, or even one person and a group of grad students to take on.
* It is truly a community resource, and belongs as much to the people who post here as to the university that hosts it, and you Dr. Bob, who founded and oversee it in a way that is not entirely clear (though that lack of clarity may just be because I have only taken a cursory look at some of the other pages).
* It is something sufficiently worthwhile that it should not be struggling for funding, and could receive sufficient philanthropic support if there was leadership and determination to find same (and that is not meant as a slight at you Dr. Bob, rather one more illustration of my point that this is just too much work for one person).
Sorry if my comments are not an instant fix, but I hope that they will be useful. Still IMHO
My non cryptic email is:
dymordecai@yahoo.com, but I check and answer them all.
Wallabee
poster:Wallabee
thread:39451
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000708/msgs/39971.html