SR - Motivation

Donal & Sosha catsden at texas.net
Thu Jun 25 21:46:45 PDT 1998


Hello, Donal here.

Dennis and Dory Grace wrote:

> Donal says:
> 
> >I have asked this before, and will again. Where are they _now_? All
> >these "people who are willing to do the work", are they supposed to
> >pop out of the woodwork as soon as a principality is formed? Is there
> >some stigma to holding a regional or kingdom office, that does not
> >apply to principality ones? I ask this in all seriousness. Two of my
> >regional officers are doubling from branch officers, several of my
> >staff positions are open and likely to remain that way, and another
> >regional officer went and got himself made Crown Prince - and I have
> >received _two_ applications for that office. I had to practically
> >draft someone - twice - to fill this region's herald's office. We
> >don't really have a regional treasurer yet due to administrative
> >hoo-hah, and Donald was filling in for one of his regional offices for
> >6 months. Is it necessary to have a pretty title, and be assured of a
> >pretty cookie, before work gets done? If that's the case, then those
> >"people who are willing to do the work" can just sit right back down,
> >as far as I'm concerned.
> 
> I think you've answered some of your own questions here, Donal.  Consider
> this:  you're having trouble filling jobs within the herald's office, and
> you've just posted a letter to the Southern Region saying--in effect--that
> you don't want volunteers who have different agendas from your own.  

That's an over-generalization, Lyonel. I expect any volunteers to have
one agenda in common with me - that of getting the work done. What
private or public agendas, if any, they have beyond that, I don't
really give a hoot. With one exception. Oh, and like Her Excellency
before you, you have failed to address the question of problems
filling treasurer's offices. But I digress. The exception is this: If
all a person cares about is the cookies that can be had for "volunteer
work", if they reserve their passion for shiny danglies and save none
for the satisfaction of getting a job done - no matter what it is -
then no, I don't care to work with them. This may seem like an
intransigent, even snotty attitude. So be it. I can work with just
about anyone who differs with me in the way things should be done,
what needs doing, what direction things should go. Don't ask me to
work with someone who sees the doing as just a stone on the path to
recognition. I guess it's just the Boy Scout in me coming out.....

> Now, you're the Kingdom Herald, Donal, so as far as I'm concerned, you can set
> whatever criteria you like for your deputies, 

Generous of you.

> but I don't think you're leaving yourself much room for sympathy, here.

I didn't ask for sympathy, nor will I. I stated examples of a problem
with finding volunteers, experienced by both myself and Don Donald,
the latter of whom has stated said problem at GOofS meetings, so I am
merely repeating public statements, not putting words in his mouth.
(Run-on sentence, I know.)

> Allow me to elucidate with an example or two:
> 
> Lord X frequently cleans the toilets for the autocrat, and he does a
> thorough and conscientious job.  Lady Z builds a fancy new database for the
> online OP and also does a throrough and conscientious job, putting in some
> hundred odd hours in the process. Eventually we're going to want to reward
> them for their efforts.  One way to reward those efforts is with a service
> award (yes, we all know about largesse as an option).
> 
> Following Donal's reasoning, if either Lord X or Lady Z were to admit that
> they did the work specifically because they *wanted* a service award, we
> should not only deny them the award, we should *refuse to let them do the
> work.*

If either Lord X or Lady Z are such fools as to state in public that
they did the work only in order to get a service award, it is to be
devoutly hoped that the Crown would manage to avoid giving it to them.
I will also note in passing that folk who do such things rarely take
on those jobs which are behind the scenes. I doubt it would be
necessary to "*refuse to let them do the work.*" Lord X would
undoubtedly find some much higher-profile work to do than cleaning
smelly ol' toilets where no-one could see him, and Lady Z's hundred
hours would most likely be far more profitably spent in the kitchen,
supervising set-up and clean-up of the hall at an event, or acting as
attendant for  Someone. All of which, by the way, are perfectly
respectable activities - if done for their own sake. I should hope,
Lyonel, that if ever someone comes to you and says seriously that they
would like to help you with something so they will be visible and
maybe get a service award out of it, that you would be careful to wash
your hand after shaking theirs and sending them away.

> lo vostre por vos servir
Translation, please?
> Sir Lyonel Oliver Grace

Donal
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