M*U*S*H - Thursday, October 21, 1999, 8:03 PM Log edited with Logedit 2.7.0pl on Fri Oct 22 11:19:00 CDT 1999 --------------------------------------------- Organizational Development for MUSH Leaders A workshop presented by Javelin M*U*S*H - Thursday October 21 *** THE OBJECTIVES AND THE CASE *** The goal of the workshop is to give participants a conceptual framework for exploring and solving organizational problems that face top MUSH leaders. The framework I'll present is based on the work of Bolman and Deal's 1997 book Reframing Organizations, which I recommend highly to those who like the ideas presented and want to go further. Here's the case we'll use for discussion: MUSH Ado About Nothing "They're screwing up the game. I wish you could see that. If you can't do something about Hamlet, at least, you can kiss your RP staff goodbye." Billy sighed as he listened to Desdemona, one of his best RP wizards. MUSH Ado About Nothing was growing, and growing to be more and more trouble. When Billy started MUSH Ado About Nothing, he didn't expect it to become a large, popular MUSH. The idea of a MUSH centered around an imaginary meeting of Shakepearean and pseudo-Shakesperean characters, he thought, wouldn't appeal to too many players. As it turned out, he was wrong. Only a year since its opening, MAAN regularly saw groups of 30 players online each night, and RP events attended by 50 or more. The initial cadre of 4 staff members had grown to 12. Billy was still God and Head Wizard, but he felt these days as if he was losing more and more control over the MUSH. Billy founded the MUSH with three friends. Romeo was a top-notch hardcoder and enjoyed building as well. Juliet was interested in coordinating RP activities, and doing some softcode on the side. Mercutio coded globals and was an avid builder. Billy maintained the game account. The four set policy by majority vote; Billy had 2 votes in order to break ties. The expansive growth of the game took its toll on the founders. Juliet retired her wizbit due to lack of time, and Billy recruited players Desdemona, Viola, Othello, Toby, and Puck to serve as RP staff for the game. They worked as an independent committee, coordinating and directing RP affairs. Billy also hired two players, Benedict and Beatrice, to serve as newbie helpers. Meanwhile, Mercutio, in need of more coding and building help, drew on some of his contacts and SuperMUSH, and brought in Hamlet, Rosencranz, and Ophelia. The four quickly began the complicated process of coding an Elizabethan economy, comprehensive rank/status system, a dueling system, and many other intricate coded systems. Many of these systems soon became the envy of other MUSHes for their elegance and verisimilitude. It didn't take long for the RP staff and the code team to come into conflict. From the standpoint of the code team, the RP staff didn't seem to appreciate their hard work -- they'd often ignore the coded systems that players were supposed to use, and suggest that players simply RP their duels. They also had retconned a few scenes that resulted in economy snafus that took Hamlet, the econ coder, over a week to untangle. The RP staff had their own peeves. They felt that the coding team wielded undue influence on the direction of the MUSH, and, through Mercutio, often had Billy's ear and the benefit of his attention. They, on the other hand, were left to work things out for themselves only to find that their suggestions were disparaged by the coding team and rarely adopted. Hamlet, in particular, made it clear that his coding priorities were set by Mercutio and himself, and if the RP staff wanted something coded, they'd better take it up with Mercutio. As a result, the RP staff had begun to get frustrated, and fewer spent the hours online that had previously been common. The final straw came when two players, the Duke of Borneo and the Lord of Norwich, fought a duel as climax of an intricate tinyplot that had been carefully built up for two months by Desdemona and the other RP staff members. The plot called for Norwich to finally yield to the Duke, and pledge fealty, allowing him to marry the Duke's daughter and resolve the conflict in a fashion typical of Shakespearan comedy. The dueling system, however, pronounced the plot a tragedy - the Duke slew Norwich. Only Hamlet and Puck were present, and RL took Puck's attention off the screen for a critical 10 minutes -- when she returned, the damage was done, and the players were either in shocked mourning IC, or outraged OOC -- Norwich, in particular, who did not expect his character to die, left in an angry huff when Hamlet informed him that the decision of the dueling system was final. Puck tried to confront Hamlet, but Hamlet logged off. Puck, overwhelmed, soon followed, but word of the scene reached Desdemona the next day. "Billy, we think this is a great MUSH, and code has its place, but it can't take the place of RP -- and code admin, like Hamlet, have no right to make RP decisions. We've thought about it, all five of us, and there have to be some changes. Either he goes, or we go," Desdemona concluded. "What's it going to be?". Billy's head spun. He knew that if the coders left, he'd never be able to maintain the code, and HAmlet's systems were among the best and most complex. But without the RP staff, there was no MUSH Ado About Nothing. No matter what he did, could the MUSH survive? Was it worth the hassle? To be or not to be, he though wryly, isn't the question. It's *how* to be. *** INTRODUCTIONS *** Javelin says, "Good evening, and welcome to Organizational Development for MUSH Leaders, what I hope will be an interesting couple of hours. I'm really serious about sticking to 2 hours, so let's get started! I thought we could spend the first 10 mins just introducing ourselves (as per the info I sent you). If it's ok, we'll just go in lcon order: Asherah Amberyl Apocalypse Marretta Balerion Vexon Trispis Urza Javelin" Asherah says, "Greetings :) I am Asherah. I have been MU**ing for about 5 years. I have been admin of some sort, generally player Relations for about the last 4 of that. I am currently in the process of opening my second MUX." Asherah says, "My first attempt died a horrible death due to bad mismanagement. A lot of it was staff infighting and favoritism of certain players. I am here tonight hoping to learn some skills to help me manage my staff better and possibly anticipate and correct problems before they reach a level of severity which requires drastic action." Javelin suggests that people indicate "I have more to say" with ..., or indicate that they're done with "I'm done", btw, as you prefer. :) Amberyl says, "Along those lines: I've been MUSHing for, hrm, about nine years now. (God, that's a scary thought.) Been an admin for almost as long as I've been playing. I've run a whole bunch of games in the past, some of which have been successful and some which have expired quietly. ;)" Amberyl is typically a code wizard or roleplay wizard. These days you will rarely find me anywhere I am not anonymous, though. :) My interest is sort of twofold: I'm interested in MUSH administrator and player dynamics, and I'm pointy-haired management by profession, so I'm always interested in how lessons learned in one arena apply or don't apply to another. Apocalypse says, "I am, obviously, Apocalypse. :) I was, until recently, Head Wizard/God of STAR WARS: Dark Forces MUSH, a project which I am being forced to shelve due to my lack of a server. I have held numerous administrative positions, including Building Wizard on seaQuest MUSH, Head Wizard/God of AL|ENS MUSH, a Roybit on Conflicts of Earth: Awakenings MUSH, and several others. I've also held numerous IC leadership positions online, including the head of the Imperial Navy on Star Wars: A New Threat MUSH and the head of the Imperial Tsugan Marine Corps on Hemlock II MUSH. I've been MUSHing for about four or five years. I've lost track. :) I'm involved in this seminar because I've noticed that many games are ruined by personality conflicts and misunderstandings based on malinformed judgements, and I felt that this would be an appropriate resource to learn how to deal with the fallout from these problems, and perhaps even avoid them in the first place." Marretta says, "Hey. I'm Marretta. Aside from a brief stint on Pern a few years ago, I've been reMUSHing since February. M*U*S*H is my first and only wizbit and where I spend the majority of my time on-line. Although I do satisfy my RP addiction at one other elseMU. I'm here because I thought this workshop was a cool idea when Jav first mentioned it and because I'm always interested in learning what I can about being better at being an admin. (The end)" Balerion gives a bow. "Hello. I've helped out as staff or admin on several games over the past 5 years or so of my MU*ing life, and still do such things on a couple of the games I remain active on -- generally as a roleplay or theme staffer/admin. But the important one for me right now is my own game, which is currently in development with myself and my fiancee (Nymeria) as head wizzen. The game is a book-themed fantasy MUSH tenatively titled Blood of Dragon which, so far as we know, would be the only game to open using the bestselling theme it's based on, at least so far. More information can be found at mninfo BOD, but warning, it's spammy....." Balerion says, "In any case, given this is the first game in which I and some of our fellow developers have been on as wizards from the very beginning, we're all keen on setting down a good organizational structure so that we can do the things that we hope to do. When MUDtoberfest came around and I saw Jav's workshop announced, I leapt at it, since I figured this'd be just the sort of thing to help us consider our own organizational plans while we're still in the state of infancy. We've all witnessed a wide variety of structures at various games, most of them with some failings, and while we've our own ideas as to how to do it 'better' ... never hurts to talk about such things with ones peers. :)" Vexon smiles, "Hello, I'm Vexon, and I'm an alc... oh, leadership conference, right. :) Anyways, I've been MU*ing for about three years now. I started out, unfortunately, on a local MajorMUD. After quickly moving into a more productive and less destructive realm, know as MUSH, I have administrated several MUSH/MUXs, been Head Wiz at several, and done plenty of other odds and ends administration. I've never had any formal leadership trainning. At the current time, I'm running my own MUSH: eXpanded Reality. Its going fine, but I still feel I'd greatly benifit from this workshop." Urza says, "Vexon, this is a girl scout meeting. ;-)" Trispis thinks . o O ( darn. He used my joke. ) Vexon chuckles Trispis says, "Hi. I'm Trispis (no alts worth mentioning, have always been Trispis about the MU-community). I'm the primary instigator, curator, and custodian of MUSH 101, now the 101 Schoolhouse here at M*U*S*H. I'm also a Wizard here at M*U*S*H. (more...)" Urza hands him some cookies, now go sell these and we'll sew a cute patch onto your chest. :) Urza says, "Greetings to you all. My name is Matthew Martin, a.k.a. Urza. I have about a year of experience of running a MUSH on Penn32, however it failed due to lack of player intrest. :( (finished)" Trispis says, "IRL, I'm System Analyst for a rural Sheriff's Office in Oklahoma (i.e., I was the only guy in the county who knew what a PC was, so I got shafted with the job.). (more...)" Trispis says, "I'm here because: a) I'm an admin on Jav's game. b) Jav, in addition to being a Psychotic^H^H^Hlogy Professor, is pretty savvy with this MUSH administration stuff. c) I wouldn't miss this opportunity to learn from Jav and you other savvy individuals to save my life. (there, everyone's been appropriately sucked up to, I hope.) (more...)" Urza says, "I aplogize for interrupting. stupid pueblo command storer." Trispis thinks . o O ( The nice part about writing this stuff in advance is that I get to work longer on my puns. ) Vexon LOL at T Javelin grins. Good enough. "I'm Javelin, and you pretty much all know me. Been MUSH just under 9 years (I count 9 but I know it's less than Amberyl), and in RL I teach this stuff to physician-educators." Javelin says, "Before we get on with the show, a few brief ground rules." Javelin says, "As the note mentioned, you're welcome to log, but please don't distribute logs to anyone else until/unless I secure everyone's permission to do so, which I'll do confidentially (by email) tomorrow or so. IF anyone objects, logs will not be disseminated." Javelin says, "Guess that's it for rules for now. Ok, the great part about adult learning is that I can do things like ask y'all to break up into your groups (Group 2 can use the anteroom) and we'll regroup here at 8:40 MUSH time, at which point I'd like each group to have a spokesperson who will present their group's thoughts on the case I sent you (MUSH Ado About Nothing). The questions for you are: what's gone wrong here, and what would you advise God to do?" Javelin will likely wander from room to room and observe quietly, perhaps injecting something provocative if I think of it. "So, I'm done, and let's get to it!" *** GROUP WORK, AND EVERYONE RETURNS *** Javelin says, "Ok, finish up, and we'll hear what y'all have to say." Urza says, "Shoo! shoo! go on! :)" Marretta thinks we are set... Trispis comes out of the anteroom. Javelin says, "Volunteer to go first?" Trispis couldn't find the door. Apocalypse grins at T. Trispis says, "Go for it, Ash." Trispis thinks we're ready (that was a hint). Javelin nods to Ash. You've got 5 mins. :)_ Asherah says, "Here is a basic summary of what we thought the main problems were: 1. Coders and RP staff need to communicate better. 2. Billy has been indecisive, or remiss in paying attention to the problem to allow it to get this far. 3. There appears to be favoritism towards the older staff/admin. 4. Note that we assumed an AUP similar to what is in force here and feel that BILLY has to make the final decision." Asherah says, "We feel that to redress these issues/problems Billy should do the following in order of priority. a. Contact Norwich and the other major players involved in th duel and inform them that he is Retconning Hamlet's decision and allowing them to RP the scene as previously negotiated. b. Speak with Hamlet and Mercutio letting them know that he is going to ask that they curtail the expansion of the code in directions which will make it necessary rather than optional while stressing the fact that it was his own error in not stating more clearly to them what role he envisioned for code on the game. c. Explain to the RP staff exactly what he intends to do to ameliorate the situation. d. Hold some workshops for the staff which have as their goal communication between the staffers AND some which work on communication between staff and God. " Asherah says, "Trispis and I also agreed that Billy should basically do the following. "I'm the one who has to make the decision because it's my game. This is an appeal situation. It's made it to me for a final arbitration. My decision will be final. "...not everyone agreed completely on all of this " Javelin grins, and thinks you'll find that each group has a rather different take on the situation. Marretta? Marretta nods. "I think we focused on the problem as a whole...and not the specifics of the Duel...so saying that... Marretta says, "The problem, as we see it, is Vision. Vision sets the tone for what the game really is. As Amberyl so succinctly defined it: "What type of play do you want to see? What type of players do you want to have? What do you want interaction, in general, to be like?"" Marretta says, "The Game has no Vision..Billy just hasn't given it that much thought, yet..." Marretta says, "There is some compromise in order, now, though...he can't just lay down the law all of a sudden..." Our advice to Billy (summarized with the tactical mind of General Apox and paraphrased by the soft and mushy mind of Marretta): 1. Write a vision statement. 2. Based on that vision statement, gather demographics and opinions from the players and admins. 3. Based on the intelligence he's gathered from his admins and players, get a battle plan. 4. Implement the plan, and adjust as necessary. Marretta says, "Billy gets to implement and take responsibility and the consequences for the plan....but he needs to consider what input he is given." Marretta says, "Amberyl points out that 1 and 2 could well be reversed." Marretta is done, now.... ;) *** JAVELIN ON FRAME ANALYSIS *** Javelin smiles. "As usual, looking at a case reveals different things to different groups. And this case is purposely made fairly ugly, though I'm sure most of us have seen equally ugly things happen..." Javelin is going to say a few words about frame analysis -- a method one might use to gain insight into a case like this, or any organizational dilemma -- and then we'll return to this case to discuss it in that light, and integrate what both groups have pointed out. Javelin says, "The basic idea is that any organizational situation can be viewed through different lenses, or frames, which will emphasize different aspects. Each group here had a slightly different lens through which they viewed this case..." Javelin says, "As proposed by Bolman and Deal, there are four frames that are useful to consider in any situation: structural, human resources, symbolic, and political." Javelin says, "The structural frame focuses on how the organization is structured - the hierarchy (or lack thereof), the coordination, the communication channels. I heard both groups initially consider some structural issues - for example, the way the admin are organized at MAAN." Javelin says, "This frame usually assumes that problems are based in inefficient or inappropriate structure, and that structural change affords a potential solution." Javelin says, "The human resources frame focuses on the needs of the people in the organization, as people. It asks if those needs are being met, and, if not, how could they be better met. It draws our attention to issues of relationships, of expectations, of needs for belonging and validation, many of which are present in this case, and many of which were alluded to in your discussions." Javelin says, "The symbolic frame deals with the organizational culture, myths, and symbols. In many ways, a vision statement serves as an important unifying symbol in many organizations. MUSHes in general have pretty rich org. culture and mythology." Urza says, "Alright, i'm sorry to interrupt you javelin, but i have to depart to attend to IRL matters. Goodbye everyone." Javelin says, "WHen using the symbolic lens, we consider how people bring *meaning* to the organization around them. Where I work, an obvious set of symbols has to do with the length (and other features) of the white coat that you wear -- it distinguishes med students from residents from attending docs, and thus provides key structural cues as well as some important meaning -- hierarchy is preserved here." Javelin says, "Finally, the political frame focuses on the use of power, broadly defined as the ability to control and direct resources. Political problems often center around who determines how a scarce resource (including, for example, a GOd's attention, or a useful bit of coding time) is allocated, and political solutions look for ways to make that allocation fit the goals of the organization." Javelin whews, and keeps it within his time frame. :) "I'd like to suggest, for a moment, that you consider the analysis and solutions that you presented, and think about which lenses they're based on and which frames they address. What are the most important frames for this case? How could reframing with other lenses provide more insight and more options for Billy? The floor is yours, and I'd suggest that whoever's currently speaking should recognize the next speaker (who could raise their hand at some point) *** GROUP DISCUSSION OF FRAMES IN CASE *** Trispis says, "Billy's ear. (cont...)" Trispis says, "Much of this focuses on how much real estate one owns in Billy's ear. (figuratively speaking). (cont...)" Trispis says, "I think this fits into both the political and symbolic areas. The problem seems to be manefesting itself as an aspect of this, dragging other issues along with it. (done)" Javelin says, "How is it a symbolic issue?" Trispis says, "Our first solution item was a symbolic gesture that the players and RPers are being heard... a symbol to them." Trispis may be lost, too. Javelin nods. Balerion says, "The vision statement is pretty important, and I think it runs the gamut of frames. I think the most important item it should contain, for this situation, is a declaration of just how RP and code fit together. It's run out of control, as the other group has pretty much said. Billy just doesn't seem to have thought of it." Javelin nods. Some people who use four-frame analysis argue that vision should guide all four frames, and isn't really part of any. Javelin says, "But given a vision, it should be implement in a consistent fashion structurally, symbolicly, in HR, and politically." Balerion says, "Billy could have avoided a lot of trouble if he had. There are hints that the coding, while elegant and the envy of the other games, didn't fit hand-in-hand with how one half (the RP half) of the admin team did. For instance, Hamlet needing a week to fix econ after a retcon. That's not code that supports RP." Trispis says, "I just have to say. Vision, schmision. (cont...)" Trispis says, "Billy had a vision. And it's still there. (cont...)" Trispis says, "What he didn't have was foresight. He didn't *en*vision his *vision* growing in popularity at the rate it did. If it lacks anything now, it's formalization (write it down for all to see)." Apocalypse agrees with T. "The political and symbolic frames are the primary causes of this problem. Billy -did- have a vision, but the vision he had is no longer applicable; it's time for him to sit down and figure out how to get back there. Politically, however, he's allowed the primary purpose of the MUSH, which, I think we all agree, is RP, to be suborned to the goal of creating code to support that RP, and, in doing so, has elevated the code above the RP. Apocalypse says, "Right now, it looks like code gets more of Billy's attention than RP, which is not allowed to compete fairly for his attention due to the heavily-coded nature of the game in its current incarnation." Amberyl says, "Let me see if I can summarize a couple of things in a frame-based way. Structural: The admin hierarchy is to some degree broken. They aren't communicating their expectations to one another, and there's no global prioritization -- no sense of what matters and what doesn't. HR: The coders are validated by the cool spiffy things that they're producing. They don't necessarily really want to _hear_ that people don't want to use the frobs they're making, and they value their independence. They're in a take-it-or-leave-it mode, which is not uncommon amongst MUSH coders today, I think, sadly. The roleplay admin think of themselves as serving the player base, I think; I'm not sure if the coders do, in this case. The coders are also something of a clique, note -- they came in together, and I suspect that they stick together. It's also worthwhile to note that they came in as outsiders -- and may not actually be _roleplaying_ on the game. The roleplay staff, on the other hand, was recruited out of the active player base." Trispis thinks . o O ( good last points there ) Javelin . o O (is glad someone mentioned that insider/outsider thing.) Amberyl says, "The coders also feel unappreciated by the RP staff, which doesn't help matters. The RP staff seems to view the code staff as unwelcome intruders interfering with the way the game really should run." Amberyl says, "Symbolic: When you talk about a MUSH, you're talking about a shared fantasy world. In this case, you're talking about Shakespeare, which is melodramatic. The coders are creating one world -- a 'realistic' world -- whereas the roleplayers are trying to create the feel of melodrama. This clash is also pretty crucial, I think. The coded systems determine what the world structure is like, and if it clashes with the direction of the play, that's a real problem." Amberyl says, "Finally, political: Power on this game isn't just in the hands of the admin. This is typical; it's pretty clear that the prominent players also have a significant voice in things. It's also clear that people think that Billy is in charge -- but the reality is that he lets his staff run _him_, to some degree." Trispis thinks . o O ( the play's the thing ) Amberyl says, "Because the coding team is defining what the world structure is like, they really do have de facto power over its direction, though." Trispis says, "Anyone ever been part of a play (specifically community theater would be the best example)?" Javelin stage-managed Grease in 6th grade. :) Trispis says, "Everyone's job is important. Down to the smallest walk-on, bit part." Apocalypse says, "Back in kindergarten, yes. :)" Asherah spent most of HS doing that :) Trispis says, "I remember a play I was in that had a maid. No lines, one walk-on scene, walked off and (offstage) dropped a tray full of expensive silver. Quite a funny moment -- memorable." Javelin wonders if everyone's job is *equally* important, though. Trispis says, "Point being: She needed as much attention, relatively speaking, as any of the others (when it was her time to rehearse, she had the full attention of the director)." Asherah says, "I do agree with the vast majority of whats been said here. IMHO the biggest thing we had to address BEFORE the internal staffing issues was the presenting problem. The RP. If indeed we all believe that RP is the focus of any game, then should not the rest be put on hold to address RP problems that could cost us players? Norwich would be denouncing MAAN to the world if not." Asherah says, "The rumours could kill the MU* as surely as the admin issues. Yes they need to be addressed, and I feel that we did so." Asherah says, "Addendum: SOMEONE has to be in charge. If it ain't Billy then who the spam is it?" Amberyl says, "I don't think anyone's disagreeing that the players involved have to be appeased. I think it's just one of those things that you try to solve quickly. You don't want to make it the focus; it's a symptom." Amberyl says, "i.e., you'll burn a lot more bridges if you run around blaming people for what happened; it's better to just acknowledged, hey, there was a mistake, let's make you happy first, and the admin will figure out the rest amongst themselves." Balerion says, "Just to clear up a point, I was the one who wasn't sure (assuming Billy had something about news policy aup2 on MAAN) about it's use. I've nothing against the idea that, in the end, he makes the decision. I had imperfectly tried to raise the point, though, of whether he should open his fact-finding questions with pointing to the AUP before all else. Probably the others agreed with me, I just didn't bring my point across well. ;) It'd alienate Hamlet, for example, to have the first words out of Billy's mouth concerning this affair be about how He Is Law. Save it for later when you've talked to everyone and have come to a final decision." Balerion says, "And to bring it more on topic, I agree with Amberyl. I think contacting Norwich and others is important, but I'd actually hesitate to give a wide public statement concerning retcon until I could talk with Hamlet and Mercutio about the code and the situation." Asherah thinks . o O (agrees to a point and p'raps didna comunicate that to Bel (:) Apocalypse says, "In reference to your addendum: There -can- be no other. I'm fond of humorously paraphrasing one of the Commandments; 'I am the LORD, thy God. Thou shalt worship no other gods before me.' And, if he alienates Hamlet by saying, 'These are my rules, period,' then he'll just have to put up with that, because that immediately creates the same situation he just tried to solve. The law must apply equally to all parties." Trispis says, "The first thing I noticed (possibly gleaned from admin experience) is that we (group 2) weren't all going to agree. Due to that, I started being immediatly flexible to whomever seemed to have similar ideas as me (Asherah seemed closest initially), then work with them in defining points of contention/agreement. -- I think we're all trying to do that at some level. This is what needs to be nourished in this situation (ours and Billy's). -- Bal: I think the discussion part of this is done (at least that's how I read the script -- I may be in error there). It's now that moment where he's got to act (apart, possibly, from a few personal messages of consolation to Norwich). That's why I've been pushing for an immediate solution to the RP problem (which, as Amberyl said, needs fixed and put to rest)." Javelin finds Tris's observation about how his own group worked very interesting. Personally, I've always felt that the essential requirement for fixing anything like this is willingness on the part of people to focus on solutions and to commit to the goal of fixing. Javelin says, "A few closing comments. Obviously, this is just the tip of the iceberg - a glancing blow at both this case and frame analysis. The class I usually teach takes 70 hours, but my fingers wouldn't be able to take that. :) I see in MAAN a situation where structural, HR, and symbolic weakness has led to political struggle for recognition and control of the word. The weaknesses were well-expressed by all of you - unclear coordination/hierarchy, the insider/outsider split in hiring different admin, failure to provide equal access to Billy, and lack of unifying culture (a culture clash, you might even say). As a result, the coders and RPers are swinging big political clubs - they go or we go, etc. I think you've all outlined important directions Billy would have to take, and I think that to be successful, Billy must keep all four frames in sight. The political conflict must be handled immediately, and symbolic unification is likely to take longer than structural change or HR approaches, but in the long run, Javelin . o O (s/word/world/ in there) Javelin says, "Not all dilemmas require the power of all four frames - sometimes you do well just by identifying a key frame (which doesn't present itself clearly and can be tricky), and sometimes you need to reframe or use multiple frames. If you leave here after tonight with the idea of trying some of these lens when you approach your next org. problem, I'd like to know how it works for you. I heartily recommend Bolman and Deal's book, and would be pleased to discuss this stuff w/y'all in the future. And now, before we quit, I'd like a little feedback on what you each thought was the most useful and least useful part of the evening, so that when I do this again, I can improve it." Javelin checks his watch. 10pm. And his wife comes in the door. But I can wait the 5 min for your comments, because they're very important to me. Amberyl says, "What's the title of the book? :)" Javelin says, "Reframing Organizations." *** FEEDBACK FROM PARTICIPANTS *** Apocalypse found the "frames" concept to be the most useful part of the seminar. Asherah liked the idea of frame analysis. "I think we all sort of instinctively did some of that, but its good to have it outlined for future use. I wish we had had a bit more time to discuss after Jav's presentation. I feel a lot got lost in having to be brief." Balerion says, "Most useful -- discussion's always good. Least useful -- time. Could use a little more (another 10 minutes for the group discussion would be nice, and more to post-group discussion would be nice too.)" Trispis says, "I think the most useful part was the speed. The fast pace -- the need to move from point a to point b in the program -- forced us to work together. I even made a comment about it in our group (to add humor to the rapidity and the stress of it): there is no solution, Billy must commit suicide." Javelin nods to Bal, and would try to schedule for 3 hours next time, probably, but can be time-limited in RL. Asherah laughs! Marretta nods. "Less emphasis on identifying the problem and recommending a solution at the beginning (perhaps consensus need not be arrived at?)...longer discussion on things after the Frames are explained." Javelin grins at Tris, and still thinks the extra hour wouldn't hurt, but would tell *you* that it was only 2, so you'd be stressed. :) Apocalypse laughs at T. "Seppuku." Asherah thinks Bill is a wimp and shoulda hung himself years ago :P Trispis snickers. Javelin waits for Apoc's 'least useful' and Amberyl's feedback. Vex is idle. Apocalypse says, "Least useful? Time constraints. We needed more." Asherah says, "Of course I also liked being able to discuss stuff with ppl I'd only -heard- of before ;)" Javelin wonders if you felt the case was sufficiently realistic? In RL, I have actual cases (with names disguised) to work with, but I didn't have enough detail from one of my MUSHes to put together, so it's genuinely made-up. Apocalypse thinks . o O (Awful lot of humility in this group...) Marretta laughs and thinks the case was most realistic...just from gossip she hears here... Apocalypse thought it was quite realistic. Asherah thinks it was. "Could give you a few really nasty ones from myrecent exp" Javelin can think of some goodies (baddies/uglies) from DuneMUSH, but not in enough detail - I'm getting old. Trispis says, "Oh, I _*LOVED*_ the case. All of the symbolisms were absolutely fascinating. It prompted creative thought, IMO." Javelin is always interested in cases, Ash, so feel free to pseudonymize it and write it up and send it along. :) Apocalypse says, "I've been in scraps at least as bad, and I was a player. :)" Asherah nods to Tris. "The Shakespeare symbolism was great." Javelin thought one of you mentioned considering such a MUSH; so have I. :) Apocalypse can think of a good case, too. Balerion says, "It was good enough ... though now that I think of it, more detail could have been good. I seem to have approached the situation differently than some others because it wasn't clear what Billy had done after the Norwich-Borneo case and Desdemona's ultimatum." Javelin finds case writing fairly difficult, so bring 'em on. :) Javelin assumed, Bal, that he hadn't done anything yet, but did leave that open, yeah. Javelin grins at Amberyl and other TinyMUSH types and at least was successful and not using 'royalty' anywhere. :) Amberyl says, "Amusingly, I've dealt with an admin situation almost identical to the one you described, Javelin." Trispis nods to Bal. There needs to be more definition as to where Billy is in the resolution process. Did he JUST FIND OUT via the ultimatum? Or, ... did he find out and just now get the ultimatum? Amberyl says, "Apoc can probably think where, if he thinks a little ;)" Asherah nods. "I made an assumption that he'd already gotten it from both sides. Changes things a bit if he hadn't Amberyl says, "I think that the frame analysis discussion was interesting, but really there's not enough detail / time." Javelin wondered particularly if any of this was new/useful for Amberyl given your RL experience. Amberyl says, "This could be taught in email to some degree, I think, where people have time to write considered responses." Javelin will be teaching his course to docs via the web next semester. Amberyl says, "I've never been exposed to formal frame analysis before, so it was an interesting introduction. The framework's an interesting one to think about, but the quesiton is how to apply the framework to identifying solutions. :)" Javelin nods, should spend more time on that next time. Amberyl grins at Javelin. "Do they do open enrollment web-based (for a fee, presumably) or do you have to be in a degree track?" Amberyl's masters at the moment is all web-based foo. Javelin says, "In this case, you have to be a health professional, at least, if you're doing a non-degree registration." Trispis made a comment about different facets of this situation. Having names for some of those facets is helpful (names, symbols, identifiers of some sort). Amberyl says, "Interesting." Amberyl says, "You should think about teaching teambuilding, Javelin, in a MUSH context. :)" Asherah heartily seconds as she could use a workshop on how to hire/integrate staff Trispis says, "This sorta reminds me of when our residence hall staff all went to the ropes course (one of thos obstacle course things)." Javelin now has to go (time to write a LARP character for Halloween Party - Jodie Foster). Great idea, Amberyl, maybe some of us here could do that together, as a team. :) I'd be happy to keep working with all of you, who I see as MUSH leaders, in developing some things like this for other MUSH admin (a traveling workshop or whatever). Thanks very much for spending your time with me. Javelin will email you about logstuff tomorrowish. There is a soft 'click' as Javelin unlocks the door to the corridor. Marretta has to head out. "Thanks Jav...and Thanks to all of you. This was fun/educational/interesting." Apocalypse would certainly volunteer, provided he can actually ever get a project off the ground. Javelin waves cheerily. See y'all soon. (Ash, I really could've used a workshop on how to *fire* staff at at least one point!) Asherah LAUGHS! Javelin says, "Not here, though. :)" Javelin waves, and leaves for real. Thanks again.