[pp.int.general] [pp-eu] Party IT systems.. - the back ends..

[Andy Halsall]

On Tuesday 29 May 2012 21:01:21 Andrew Norton wrote:
> On 5/28/2012 3:02 PM, Andy Halsall wrote:
> > On Monday 28 May 2012 19:48:07 Justus Römeth wrote:
> >> Yeah great officers/volunteers would not just drop out ;-)
> >
> > True, but they do get dumped on and eventually can end up taking a step back,
> > or get hit by a bus, or ill, or have kids (surprise!) etc..  It does put lots
> > of eggs in a few baskets and doesn't help in delegation (And then it gets
> > compelx..).
> 
> The problem is the old chestnut of Alpha males... In this case 'alpha
> geek males'
> 
> People are of the belief that they know everything better than anyone
> else, so they take on all the roles they can, and refuse to delegate and
> supervise. Any volunteers they have then feel 'you don't seem to
> want/need me, so sod you' and they then don't' bother. Alternatively,
> little cliques form (as with PPI) with much the same result.

Indeed, but without the tools to effectively delegate, it becomes problematic too.  Especially for stuff that has to be dealt with (hence comms and project tracking).
> 
> It leads to a mess as you end up with everything just going through one
> or two people, and their views only imposed on people. And their 'alpha'
> position means that they won't ask for help, or if they do only want it
> on the fringes, and won't listen if it conflicts with their beliefs.
> 
> The crux is, when something happens to someone, everything's been so
> concentrated on said people, that no-one else knows whats going on,
> except for the few who are already overburdened
> 
> It's something I've noted happening at least half a dozen times with
> various pirate parties over the last 6 1/2 years, and it will still keep
> happening. Want an example? Take a look at Travis' sig. What do you
> think will happen if something happens to him? 3 orgs lose someone in an
> essential position.
> 
> There are plenty more examples, but it all boils down to confusing what
> makes sense, with what works on hobby groups. People at the top know how
> to delegate. Most of us don't have the experience in that yet. Instead
> we treat it like a game or hobby, in that it doesn't matter how well the
> work gets done, just that it looks good to have the position on your
> CV/wiki page.
> 
> If we are to move on, then we have to start thinking about what's best
> overall, and less about personal glory; and learn a little humility.
> 
> Also, everyone needs to stop thinking in terms of 'we need this kind of
> software to do something'. Software is ONE means to an end, not the ONLY
> one. Everyone goes on about Mumble for instance, but mumble doesn't work
> for some people (it will NOT run right for me) and is just impractical
> other times (I can't be the only one with a living environment that
> makes long chats with (sometimes) less-than-great spoken English
> impractical at best? It turns into using tech for the sake of it, and
> that's never a good tactic, things just turn into a mess.
> 
> Communication needs to focus on the COMMUNICATION, and not on (to borrow
> a concept from Soviet Russia) the approval from the zampolit of the
> method used to communicate.

Not to bounce this, but whilst I agree broadly, there is also a major issue in that as political parties we do have to be able to communicate properly and organise on a local level.  The UK at least needs to be in a position where we have hundreds of local groupings and provide them with the tools to get on with it (so they have to be simple)..  At the same time we need to be able to provide central support for larger national things and make sure we are tracking stuff like inbound communications and the effectiveness of what we are doing.

Unlike other parties though, we aren't starting in one geographic area, it's easy to get together and build from the ground up in one are, then seed other areas, but we have a scattered membership and scattered activity.  That has to be dealt with.

The annoying thing is that there are likely expensive, proprietary or even custom applications that do this well in use by other parties right now, whilst I am having difficulty identifying components that might help us do what we need to do.  As a group of people with a disproportionate number of technically inclined people that seems like something we should be able to deal with.

Having a discussion about what should ans shouldn't happen isn't terribly interesting or useful, but I do still want to be in a position where someone who isn't technical, can get involved and talk to everyone else and get on with the important bit, the political bit, the getting voters to vote and raising awareness stuff.  Everything else is pretty pointless without that.
> 
> Andrew
> 
> 

-- 
Andy Halsall
Campaigns Officer
Pirate Party UK
+44 (0) 7505111705

For more information on the Pirate Party UK, please visit our website at 
http://www.pirateparty.org.uk.  If you wish to receive regular press 
statements from the Party (or no longer wish to receive them) please email the 
Press Office at press at pirateparty.org.uk.  The Pirate Party UK is a political 
party registered at 11, 45 Streatham Hill, London, SW2 4TS, United Kingdom.
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