I’ve been working on a model somewhat similar to the aspects you mention, but with a bird’s eye view of the movement to try and figure out coordination challenges. It’s not finished yet but here’s a relevant section:
1. Willingness to coordinate
a. Belief in Goals
b. Belief in the success of actions
c. Sense of belonging to the community
2. A suitable opportunity structure
Together I term 1 & 2 “organisational discipline” within the movement—the conditions necessary for the movement to coordinate and achieve it’s goals.
Mapping your suggestions loosely
“belief in/alignment with EA principles” → 1a/b
“Action alignment with EA principles”-> 2
“level of engagement/interaction with the EA community,” such as “to what extent do they attend events, etc.?” → Not modelled explicitly because this isn’t a community focused model, but probably 1c) may come closest.
“action to support the community”-> not modeled explicitly
I think this touches on some good points, such as the “willingness to coordinate” being influenced by motivation/perceived value in coordination. I am a bit confused/unclear about what you mean by “suitable opportunity structure” and/or how it relates to action alignment; does it refer to ideas/questions like “do the opportunities/platforms/networks that are necessary for coordination exist (such as Slack, narrow-topic groups, etc.)?” (It’s probably clearer in the context of the larger post/writing, I just wasn’t 100% sure here.)
More broadly, does this model employ a community-centered decision approach along the lines of “1) Does the community want to coordinate; 2) Is the community able to coordinate?” I mainly ask for clarification but also because it vaguely reminded me of a simplified rational-actor-centric decision model I know/like, which basically focuses on three main factors: beliefs, values/preferences/goals, and options/capabilities. Would I be correct in thinking that “beliefs” is similar to 1b, “values” is similar to 1a, and “options” is similar to 2?
The other question/comment I had was with regard to 1c. When trying to figure out “why don’t people want to coordinate,” I think that’s a good point to include in a shortlist of questions to ask for troubleshooting. If I were to go a bit deeper, though, and look at it on a semi-rational-actor choice level (as I like to do), I think 1c strikes on / could be expressed as an alternate motive for coordination: “to what extent do people enjoy coordination for the process/journey (e.g., socializing with others, performing/affirming my values) as opposed to just the outcome/destination (i.e., success)?”—The contrast being that 1a/1b are more focused on “what is the outcome: how likely is it and how much do I value it?” In contrast, I think one key factor/dampener for coordination (at least on the individual-choice level) are the drawbacks in terms of opportunity cost, stress, financial or other resources (perhaps), etc. Thus, I was wondering if you were planning to include such “coordination costs” as part of the model?
This was a very interesting comment!
Tangentially related comment:
General model of movement building
I’ve been working on a model somewhat similar to the aspects you mention, but with a bird’s eye view of the movement to try and figure out coordination challenges. It’s not finished yet but here’s a relevant section:
1. Willingness to coordinate
a. Belief in Goals
b. Belief in the success of actions
c. Sense of belonging to the community
2. A suitable opportunity structure
Together I term 1 & 2 “organisational discipline” within the movement—the conditions necessary for the movement to coordinate and achieve it’s goals.
Mapping your suggestions loosely
I think this touches on some good points, such as the “willingness to coordinate” being influenced by motivation/perceived value in coordination. I am a bit confused/unclear about what you mean by “suitable opportunity structure” and/or how it relates to action alignment; does it refer to ideas/questions like “do the opportunities/platforms/networks that are necessary for coordination exist (such as Slack, narrow-topic groups, etc.)?” (It’s probably clearer in the context of the larger post/writing, I just wasn’t 100% sure here.)
More broadly, does this model employ a community-centered decision approach along the lines of “1) Does the community want to coordinate; 2) Is the community able to coordinate?” I mainly ask for clarification but also because it vaguely reminded me of a simplified rational-actor-centric decision model I know/like, which basically focuses on three main factors: beliefs, values/preferences/goals, and options/capabilities. Would I be correct in thinking that “beliefs” is similar to 1b, “values” is similar to 1a, and “options” is similar to 2?
The other question/comment I had was with regard to 1c. When trying to figure out “why don’t people want to coordinate,” I think that’s a good point to include in a shortlist of questions to ask for troubleshooting. If I were to go a bit deeper, though, and look at it on a semi-rational-actor choice level (as I like to do), I think 1c strikes on / could be expressed as an alternate motive for coordination: “to what extent do people enjoy coordination for the process/journey (e.g., socializing with others, performing/affirming my values) as opposed to just the outcome/destination (i.e., success)?”—The contrast being that 1a/1b are more focused on “what is the outcome: how likely is it and how much do I value it?” In contrast, I think one key factor/dampener for coordination (at least on the individual-choice level) are the drawbacks in terms of opportunity cost, stress, financial or other resources (perhaps), etc. Thus, I was wondering if you were planning to include such “coordination costs” as part of the model?