MOST: FAQ - Operation of the MOST

How We Operate The MOST

The MOST is a loose confederation of volunteers. Our approach to running it is very informal. Radar serves as an overall navigator for all activities and tries to keep the various team operating smoothly and effectively. We provide guidelines and standards for our teams to follow to insure that our services are coherent, but we leave the details of how any specific task will be performed up to those who actually perform it. All labor is performed and all of our materials are produced only as our members have time to give to these tasks, so those who do make time to perform MOST-related work end up with a high degree of authority over what gets done and how it gets done.

The majority of activities of The MOST fall within one of two categories: those related to mentoring and those related to our web site. We have evolved specific subteams to handle the issues associated with each of these areas. Anyone who wishes to participate in the activities of either (or both) of these subteams may subscribe to the MOST-Mentors and/or MOST-Webbers mailing lists respectively. The majority of issues associated with these two 'umbrella' areas of concern are discussed on these lists and settled by the participants in the discussions. You may subscribe manually or use our web-based mailing list command processor. Note the part of the instructions that explain that subscribing to any MOST list requires you to respond to the email you will receive after sending your subscription request. You are not subscribed to the list until you receive the second email confirming your subscription.

The MOST is not concered with appearing to operate as a democracy. Our preferred approach to settling an issue is to encourage open discussion of the issue, and then for the leader of the function most closely associated with the issue to make a decision. The decision is expected to take the input of the group into account, but does not have to be driven by majority rule. The leader is expected to show good judgement within their area of leadership (that's part of why they were selected for the role).

All decisions of any leader are still subject to discussion by the group as a whole after they are made. We ARE just a group of loosely associated volunteers, so no one can actually impose anything on anyone else. This just hasn't been an issue, however, as we all seem to think alike on most of the stuff anyway.

Overall management of the group is performed by radar, who exerts exactly as much authority as the other volunteers will tolerate. Toleration seems to correlate with the amount that they also agree with his conclusions on each particular issue. When a subteam has an internal conflict that remains unresolved, radar will sometimes attempt to settle it (but only if he can do so without getting his hands bitten). This system works as long as most of the participants agree with what he suggests as a solution, but doesn't work so well when he makes a bad suggestion, at which point we start discussions of the issue over again. Eventually these things CAN sometimes stop being about the *issues*, at which point dissenters are sent increasingly longer emails from radar's infinite-length-email-generator until they are too numb to argue anymore :-).

In addition to these two teams, we have other teams that form for short term purposes (for instance, to support guided self-study while it is in session or to create the curriculum for a course). Some of these teams will have their own mailing list, while others will use an existing list for their discussions. This is a decision made individually by each such team when it is created.

After The MOST had operated for a while, radar found that he had less time to give to this org than he had when he helped found it. As he provided less "take-charge" leadership, fewer and fewer tasks were getting accomplished by ANY of our volunteers. Recognizing that he couldn't expct people to look to HIM as often for 'aggressive' leadership due to his own work requirements, radar invited the key players in the MOST to participate in an INFORMAL "MOST Leaders" group. This group was formed to encourage other volunteers to feel 'empowered' to lead in radar's absence, but it has instead become a forum for radar to use in discussing the MOST's operating strategy with those who have earned the right to have a say about it. Participation in the associated list, MOST-Leaders, is by invitation only and is limited to those who have shown

willingness to put in effort to make The MOST successful
the ability to play well with others.

We don't need any additional members on the -leaders list at this time, but those who demonstrate the above two traits are usually asked to join anyway.

Copyright © 1996, 1997, 1998. Last Update to This Page: 1998/04/24
This Page Maintained by: radar pangaean * * * Original Author: radar pangaean
The MOST web site is built and maintained by the voluntary efforts/donations of our members.