I appreciate highlighting the concepts of prioritization and hierarchization and designing hierarchical networked structures (HNSs) seems like a high-leverage activity. I’m not an expert, but it seems to me to be an application of a more general mindset well-known in business: Systems Thinking. It could be a source of further inspiration.
However, I am not clear on how the proposal relates to to title „What to do with people?“. In order to effectively utilize people, one needs suitable positions, therefore I would expect the proposal leads to creation of new ones or connecting people with existing ones. But all the examples are along the lines of „go find a position for yourself where you can apply HNSs“ without necessarily creating any new positions (it can lead to some connecting but it doesn’t seem to be the main point there).
It seems to me that the solution to the original problem is going to require people leading other people and showing them the way. That’s what Teach for America did – quoting Can the EA community copy Teach for America?:
It’s a very clear instruction, and a way that there’s an obvious role for everyone“.
As Mosescorrectly pointed out, only a small fraction of people is willing to manage themselves or other people.
Therefore, I see the topic of leadership as crucial for solving the people utilization problem. It includes the aforementioned activities like delegation or growing people professionally. Do you see that as an essential ingredient too? Do you think that kind of mindset is represented enough in the EA community?
Encouraging people who are not yet fully engaged in the EA community to build HNSs also seems potentially risky, because it seems like an advanced topic that requires good understanding of the system. On the other hand, if someone assumes a leadership role and thinks about delegating, thinking in terms of HNSs is going to be very important, because there are many possible decompositions with different impact and that needs to be deliberate and well-thought-out.
I appreciate highlighting the concepts of prioritization and hierarchization and designing hierarchical networked structures (HNSs) seems like a high-leverage activity. I’m not an expert, but it seems to me to be an application of a more general mindset well-known in business: Systems Thinking. It could be a source of further inspiration.
However, I am not clear on how the proposal relates to to title „What to do with people?“. In order to effectively utilize people, one needs suitable positions, therefore I would expect the proposal leads to creation of new ones or connecting people with existing ones. But all the examples are along the lines of „go find a position for yourself where you can apply HNSs“ without necessarily creating any new positions (it can lead to some connecting but it doesn’t seem to be the main point there).
It seems to me that the solution to the original problem is going to require people leading other people and showing them the way. That’s what Teach for America did – quoting Can the EA community copy Teach for America?:
As Mosescorrectly pointed out, only a small fraction of people is willing to manage themselves or other people.
Therefore, I see the topic of leadership as crucial for solving the people utilization problem. It includes the aforementioned activities like delegation or growing people professionally. Do you see that as an essential ingredient too? Do you think that kind of mindset is represented enough in the EA community?
Encouraging people who are not yet fully engaged in the EA community to build HNSs also seems potentially risky, because it seems like an advanced topic that requires good understanding of the system. On the other hand, if someone assumes a leadership role and thinks about delegating, thinking in terms of HNSs is going to be very important, because there are many possible decompositions with different impact and that needs to be deliberate and well-thought-out.