Just the Tip - Demotion Issue

Serious Lawyerbot · Jan 12, 2017

MangoTango said: ↑

Greetings Everyone,

As some of you are aware, some things have recently happened in this community which may seem detrimental; things on both sides of the line that is between two major demographics of the community. With the majority of the opinions coming from one side of that line, I wanted to give mine. So, here it is.

Over the past three and a half years, this community has seen dips in professionalism where our management is forced to take action. Leadership styles have definitely caused some of the issues we see develop over time. A more laissez-faire approach has caused lines to become blurred as to what is and what isn’t professional and appropriate. The “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mindset means that squeaky wheel doesn’t get the grease until it falls off; making the repair cost greater than what was preventable.

So that brings us to events that have occurred over the past two days, but in reality they have been going on for much longer than what probably should have been allowed. But it wasn’t broken, so it didn’t get fixed. So who is to blame?

Well, the rank system of the forums is basically a condensed rank structure in the military. We have a team which is a group of people with a common mission or a goal. At the head of our team is the commander, Highwon. As you go down the chain of command, you have leaders at every level until you get to the frontlines; our moderators. And even though the moderators may not be leaders, they still must maintain the same mindset and standards to accomplish a mission. Above that moderators is a group of admins that ensure their mod team is doing their duties, being held accountable, and so on and so forth. So when an individual messes up, that individual is held accountable. However, when a larger group of people mess up, more people are held accountable. So we can’t just point the finger at one person and shout “it’s your fault!”

Each level is responsible for certain key duties. Those duties are shaped like an inverted pyramid; with every level adding more responsibility. This, in turn, puts less focus on the duties we start out doing; those initial front-line duties aren’t as important as what they were when at the bottom of the chain. So, as the leadership is focused on those high up responsibilities, the must trust their admins to carry-out the mission through the moderators.

Now, the Serious Staff Team has always welcomed diversity. After all, having different viewpoints and backgrounds is what makes a team really succeed. However, the part that differentiates a group from a team is having a common mission. Having a common mission means our leaders need to determine what is necessary from each member to make that mission work; Highwon has outline that in the staff Rules and Responsibilities. Some of those responsibilities are having integrity, putting the mission above your personal beliefs, and wanting to do your best for the community. That means, if you have true buy-in, you may end of compromising friendships if it means the mission gets done. The higher in the chain you go, the more likely you will be expected to comprehend and apply the mission. The lower in the chain you go, the more likely you’ll be expected to have knowledge of the mission. So, when someone is a higher level in the chain, and they go against the mission, they should be held more accountable.

Our admins just happen to be some of the primary representatives of our community. The expectations for this rank is high because they are at a level where they should comprehend the mission. They are also guilty by association based on their numbers. So, when one of these members go against the mission, they may become an example for the community and lower ranking staff members; it’s just how things seem to be.

In conclusion, we can’t simply point to one person and say they are at fault. We could all look back and say that something extra should have been done to prevent this. Things could have been done by holding people accountable sooner and really making sure they understand that it’s a goal they’re working toward and where they fit into the mission. Certain things like unprofessional relationships could have been looked at on every level of management by keeping business and personal relationships separate. Things like the line of acceptability might not have gotten moved or blurred if it was made more concrete by the leaders of this community; admins, lead admins, and owner. Maybe a better definition of what is expected, better accountability, or better personal accountability could have prevented a lot of what happened this week. But, you know, hindsight is 20/20.

We’ve seen things like this before and we’ve made it past this. I just hope after everyone cools down, we can all see that we have a mission, a common goal that needs to happen to keep this community going.

Thank you for reading.
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Thank you mango. Seriously. I've been DIEING to hear this. All this non-dissenting opinion was driving me insane. I must admit mango, well said, very good analogy, and I bid you a good night. As for what happened, I am very entertained, not gonna lie. The reason i left is because of the seething anger I had over this communities staff, especially you Anna. Fuck your bullshit and lies. Pity parties deserve to die. Anyways, very fun going through all of it. Dank (shit) memes for all.

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