RE: Volunteering Can Be A Double Edged Sword
I was rather upset by an official who hinders the work I do for HIS organization because he's too arrogant to comply with a simple request. It makes me feel like not volunteering my time to have him throw a wrench into the smoothly-running machine that I helped create. If only these knuckleheads paid a little more attention to what the volunteers do for them, they would understand that we are not asking out of stupidity, but from a reasoned and well-thought-out plan. We have the experience and expertise to make their program run smoothly and they want to interfere just because they are someone special and feel they can break the rules. Well, go ahead Mr. special... break the rules and do the job yourself!
People can be so selfish and self-centered. They don't appreciate what they have until its gone!
That's another aspect of it that I never wrote about in my little rant. Yes the "professionals" can certainly get in the way as much as they can help things along. Sometimes you'll get your little Napoleons...your little "Empire Builders" who need to do things their way. They are a pain in the butt and usually are just looking for a feather in their cap. Or the leaders that are involved that want to do it a certain way because its the only way they've seen it done and don't know any different or are afraid of change. All those things can hurt. But at the same time, it hurts because there aren't enough people volunteering to stand up to it and voice the reason for change. There is power in numbers. A Troop committee can oust a Scoutmaster if he is leading the troop in an undesirable direction. You just need the numbers.
In many cases, it is numbers that speak the loudest. Regardless of how valid a point a single person may have, the people in power don't want to listen because it takes effort to make a change. However, if a lot of people complain (even if their motives are not logical or reasonable), change will be made for fear of losing face. It is a strange world we live in, where emotions trump logic.
So on that note... How can the masses of Minnows use that knowledge to influence the emotions of those who control this platform so that our posts get more visibility?
Well, I can only think that minnows need to start supporting other minnows. It's hard because people resteem and upvote those posts in which they know the authors pull in a lot of money/visibility. It's a slow process...I know based on being on here about a month and only having 120 followers at this point. You need to just be slow and steady, then hope your followers support you like you support them. At this point, I guess it is kind of an unwritten rule.