I do think there are some cases where there isn’t a clear line between what you call “marketing” and “skilling up.”
If I do the “menial operations work” of figuring out how to easily get people to go to an EA conference, is that “marketing” or “skilling up”? It depends; if my goal is to do technical research only, then it probably isn’t a useful skill, but operations is a very useful skill that you can build while doing EA community building.
If I know a group organizer has done the gruntwork of operations, I know that they can handle work that may not be that intellectually stimulating (regardless of the kind of work). I know that they are highly conscientious and able to not let tasks slip through the cracks. These are extremely useful traits in anyone. Of course, group organizing isn’t the only way you can get these skills, but it’s a pretty good one.
Thanks, Thomas! I think that’s a fair criticism. What I was trying to get at with “some actions that fall within the category of skill building would be extremely useful for some and trivial for others” is that to a certain extent, it’s up to the individual to define what skill building is for them. I’m amenable to the fact that maybe these definitions weren’t lenient enough to a range of career paths. I do worry, however, that too many individuals are going into ops/community building without building up other aptitudes.
Referring to your last paragraph, I think it’d be better if a group organizer could get those same skills in something a bit more catered to a prospective career path, although maybe this is unrealistic. This also doesn’t hold if the individual’s career interest is in ops.
Thanks for writing this post!
I do think there are some cases where there isn’t a clear line between what you call “marketing” and “skilling up.”
If I do the “menial operations work” of figuring out how to easily get people to go to an EA conference, is that “marketing” or “skilling up”? It depends; if my goal is to do technical research only, then it probably isn’t a useful skill, but operations is a very useful skill that you can build while doing EA community building.
If I know a group organizer has done the gruntwork of operations, I know that they can handle work that may not be that intellectually stimulating (regardless of the kind of work). I know that they are highly conscientious and able to not let tasks slip through the cracks. These are extremely useful traits in anyone. Of course, group organizing isn’t the only way you can get these skills, but it’s a pretty good one.
Thanks, Thomas! I think that’s a fair criticism. What I was trying to get at with “some actions that fall within the category of skill building would be extremely useful for some and trivial for others” is that to a certain extent, it’s up to the individual to define what skill building is for them. I’m amenable to the fact that maybe these definitions weren’t lenient enough to a range of career paths. I do worry, however, that too many individuals are going into ops/community building without building up other aptitudes.
Referring to your last paragraph, I think it’d be better if a group organizer could get those same skills in something a bit more catered to a prospective career path, although maybe this is unrealistic. This also doesn’t hold if the individual’s career interest is in ops.