Are there really that many opportunities to be a “sidekick” in EA? The opening for Bostrom’s assistant is the only one I can think of. I know some EA orgs use virtual assistants, but my impression is that there’s a large supply of these people outside EA, and they can be hired fairly cheaply.
Well a lot of people want to be leaders, perhaps more than is realistic within any one organisation (though we do our best to give everyone a lot of autonomy as individuals, and also run a range of projects which themselves have a lot of autonomy).
We really need someone to handle office management, logistics and some PA work. We are likely to hire someone for this in the coming round, but it hasn’t been easy to find anyone who will commit to that kind of work for a significant period of time.
I’ve heard people who’ve worked at EA organisations say that the people doing that work struck them as some of the most altruistic, because it didn’t have the rewards or glory or fun associated with more visible work.
We really need someone to handle office management, logistics and some PA work.
Does the person need to be an EA? It seems that Samwise could have been replaced with a Dwarven mercenary. Is the concern you would have to pay such a person more if they lacked inherent motivation?
Are there really that many opportunities to be a “sidekick” in EA? The opening for Bostrom’s assistant is the only one I can think of. I know some EA orgs use virtual assistants, but my impression is that there’s a large supply of these people outside EA, and they can be hired fairly cheaply.
We actually need more people with this mindset at the moment.
It’s true that we could hire general assistants, and now that we are more financially sustainable we will consider doing so in the future.
“We actually need more people with this mindset at the moment.”
What do you mean? Can you give a specific example?
Well a lot of people want to be leaders, perhaps more than is realistic within any one organisation (though we do our best to give everyone a lot of autonomy as individuals, and also run a range of projects which themselves have a lot of autonomy).
We really need someone to handle office management, logistics and some PA work. We are likely to hire someone for this in the coming round, but it hasn’t been easy to find anyone who will commit to that kind of work for a significant period of time.
I’ve heard people who’ve worked at EA organisations say that the people doing that work struck them as some of the most altruistic, because it didn’t have the rewards or glory or fun associated with more visible work.
Does the person need to be an EA? It seems that Samwise could have been replaced with a Dwarven mercenary. Is the concern you would have to pay such a person more if they lacked inherent motivation?
I recall Ruiari making an excellent sidekick to Brian Tomasik once.
+1