Overview and Introduction to My Proposal for a Structure for the Steem Foundation - @ura-soul
The Steem Alliance is in the process of accepting proposals for concepts and designs for the organisational structure of the planned Steem foundation. I am in the process of completing my proposal and this is my initial overview post on the subject.
Numerous Steemians have presented overviews already for how they see the Steem Foundation being structured - ranging from full scale corporate structures and integration with the hierarchic world of mainstream business/legality, through to the opposite whereby there is no contractual agreement at all or hierarchy. Essentially, this is an issue of finding a real balance that meets the needs of all involved. There are pros and cons to all solutions and each will make some goals easier and possibly some more difficult to reach. It is therefore essential to gain clarity on what the goals are and what the challenges are.
Scope of the Foundation
As I understand it, the foundation will exist to support the expansion of Steem, both in terms of it's own functionality and internal structure and also in terms of it's reach into the wider world. This, therefore, includes a mixture of project management, marketing, business relations, administration, communications, public relations, software design, problem solving and possibly fund raising and distribution too. The exact scope is not set in stone yet, but generally we agree that the foundation will have a role in shaping the use of resources that are to be used to fund future development of Steem and apps within the Steem eco-system.
The aim of my proposal (work in progress)
I intend to concisely state what I understand the goals of the foundation to be, including the needs I perceive that Steem has in general. The foundation could and therefore needs to address numerous key hurdles that Steem faces and help to find their solutions going into the future. I will then discuss how the key challenges might be overcome and also consider the solutions that have been shared so far by other Steemians.
I will then look at the best solutions I can find for each of the challenges, based on an assessment of their pros/cons (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats) and design an organisational structure to best leverage the solutions and options available.
Aim for completion of first draft
I intend to have the first draft of my proposal ready within the next 10 days.
Stay tuned for more info and I look forward to reading more input from other proposals soon too. :)
Wishing you well,
Ura Soul
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I like the funny graphic you have here, human dynamics are interesting and become the foundation that makes or breaks a project or community. Often it is internal personality clashes that weaken a project at managerial level. Power struggles and basic differing types all tyring to get along.
The secret is to take the ego out of the center and put the mission in the center. When differing people put their common cause or project in the center, it unites them. That central mission needs to be strong enough though to inspire the members to leave aside differences for the sake of the mission, which boils down to motivations, faith in the mission or importance of the project, etc.
Keep up the good work. I have voted for you as witness. I vote for veganism.
Thanks! It is essential to have a clearly agreed vision for what is to be achieved, for so many reasons. Part of the challenge here is that money is at stake and the decisions made by the foundation may directly benefit one member more than another and they may also genuinely disagree about what is for the best. Differences and diversity do actually make us strong and are needed, provided they are accepted and respected. I see that allowance for support of divergent visions is part of allowing growth and expansion - however, not to the extent that focus is lost. Steem is a technology that allows a wide range of visions and agendas to co-exist, but I would like to see it aimed towards the apparent 'niche' of freedom and liberation for humanity - which is an aim that the majority can surely get behind!
Yes well said, the team members need to keep the goal in mind. It's hard to do it when we are in it for the money, or it is incentivized by profit, or is a job to earn a living. In idealistic settings, the soldier fights for his country and its protection, a missionary works for spreading the word, an activist campaigns for an important cause to uplift humanity. That kind of zeal is watered down when the members are selfishly motivated by their paycheck. It's not wrong, just unfortunate.
In previous ages in the Vedic culture of India, brahmanas or teachers/priests were never paid a salary and lived purely off donations. By doing this they were showing their advanced level of consciousness - not dependent on monetary reward, not businessmen, but teachers in service. Of course the administrators or leaders, the kshatriyas, would care for their needs, but the teachers were never accumulators of wealth. Our current culture has lost this ethic completely due to being engineered by unscrupulous financially motivated elite. The merchants now run the world, while the politicians have been bought out and the teachers have been forgotten.
Two scenarios I see that could be beneficial would be getting those coming here (or already here) to understand personal investment from out of pocket, whether for self or for loved ones will strengthen the foundations here.
I also am hopeful we see more apps that focus outward towards those not already here.
Looking forward to reading what you come up with. Thanks for keeping us updated on where you are heading with this.
You are welcome, thanks! The foundation is intended to support onboarding and education too, yes.
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Hello @ura-soul, thank you for sharing this creative work! We just stopped by to say that you've been upvoted by the @creativecrypto magazine. The Creative Crypto is all about art on the blockchain and learning from creatives like you. Looking forward to crossing paths again soon. Steem on!
Doing a bit of catch up, myself. Appreciate your perspectives on the proposals. 👍