Join the new world

As those who read these pages know, eCanada is my former home and I make some effort to keep in touch with the goings-on there. N by NE is an American paper, but it is also one which pretty regularly reports on matters Canadian – sadly, often as a cautionary tale as to what eUSA should not do.

eCanada has been through some rough patches recently, but there was light last month in the form of the Presidency of Sperry. Sperry was widely acclaimed as one of the best CPs eCanada has had in recent memory – particularly applauded for his highly communicative style, which helped break down some of the “inside-outside” feelings in eCanada and helped build esprit de corps.

His replacement, Rylde, is a horse of an entirely different color (or as Canadians would have it, colour),
but that is not the subject of today’s column.

Rather it is to note what happened to Sperry as his Presidency ended.
He quit.
Not being CP – He quit playing erepublik.

This is something I’ve observed in less extreme examples both here and in real life, and I thought it worth exploring.

There are so many reasons to quit playing erepublik that I don’t even want to start down that road, but suffice it to say when anyone decides this game (or any other) is getting in the way of real life, they are entirely right to choose real life and drop the game, and they won’t get any flack from me. I understand all too well.

But it does lead to questions. One of the ones that jumps to mind is: why quit?
Why not just become what we used to call a “two-clicker” – the kind of player who logs on every once in a while, does the bare minimum and then logs back off?

The fact is you can play erepublik everyday in less than 60 seconds if you so choose.

I say this, but the reality is that the player like Sperry is honest when he says he can’t actually do that. Either because that’s not how his OCD operates, or simply because it’s just not his style to do the minimum.

Hey, fellow player: ever go to a meeting of some group for the first time and find yourself elected President at it? If so, you know what I mean. There is in some people that spirit, of leadership, of volunteerism, of excellence, call it what you will. Other people can see it in you, too. It’s that thing that sets you apart as the sort of person who is going to lead, not follow.

One of the real dangers for a person like this is getting over-tasked. These people find it hard to say no, they set a high standard for themselves. Even stressed and unable to give some new task the time they know it deserves, they still do a better job than most. But because they set a high standard for themselves, they are unable to feel any satisfaction in the job they do. They know they are capable of better. The praise of others rings hollow in their ears, drowned out by their internal dialogue that says “You know you could/should have done that much better.”

Over time these people become burned out, and quit. They won’t let themselves fade to a minor role but they know they don’t have the time and energy to take on a major role.
So they quit. And we are all the poorer for that.

The fate of these leaders is sometimes made worse by the fact that there is another type of person out there – both on erepublik and in the real world. These people are not the honest critic (who can be a great help in achieving excellence) but the feces-thrower. You know the type I mean. They take pride in a kind of super-cool above-it-all cynicism. They snigger at those trying to build and simply fire unhelpful comments into the mix to undermine the efforts of others. This kind of player doesn’t actually have any competing or positive vision themselves. They are idea nihilists – it’s all crap, everyone is a hypocrite except them because only they are honest enough to admit it. These people are carbuncles on any organization, but because what they do takes almost no effort and never requires them to compromise their “principles”, they don’t tire or get discouraged.
In many organizations they are among the members of longest-standing. They are always there to explain to you why some new initiative or effort won’t work, because it was tried ten years ago and failed then.
The feces-thrower is a drain to be around, a kind of spirit vampire that sucks up all the light and hope in the room and replaces it with a deadly cool.

It is a rare leader who can navigate the feces-thrower. Some try to co-opt them by bringing them “inside the tent”. Most of the time, that diminishes the leader, although some people would argue “Well, it would have been even worse if I hadn’t brought them into the tent.” It’s a tough call, and even when it’s all over, it’s usually the leader who has given up some of their idealism, and who feels diminished, while the feces-thrower has their status elevated for almost no effort, and maintains their ability to crap on anything that goes wrong. (“Oh yeah, I told him not to do that, but he just wouldn’t listen.”)

Well, you ask, what’s your advice, Uncle Rigs?

I don’t have a lot.
My first is to learn to say “No” a lot, and pledge not to take a leadership role in any organization which you join in the first year of your membership.
I am too old and too much of an iconoclast to put up with the feces-throwers.
And I have had so many battles with them that they would undermine me every chance they got.
I can only say that if you are thinking about taking on a leadership role in any organization

1) make sure you have the time to focus almost exclusively on it and

2) get a clear mandate from the general membership at the time of your election to take the actions you think the organization needs. Also

3) Set yourself a clear exit date, and

4) do what you can for successor planning.

If you’re one of the people who isn’t a leader (a member of the horde), take an honest look and ask yourself if you are supporting those who are trying to make things better, or those who are just sniping from the sides all the time. The feces-thrower by himself is really just a crank – he only becomes a problem when he draws a following.

But what about the third group, you ask:
What’s your advice for the feces-thrower?
Trust me, they aren’t reading this.

So long, Sperry. Hope you make it back some time.

Illegitimus non carborundum









N x NE, Vol 6, No. 7