User:Doug/How to make changes

The Constitution has a small section titled Individual Action which outlines how people should go about doing stuff, without having to talk to other people about it. The majority of stuff that gets done in Kanthaus falls under this category, but the section of the Constitution leaves out a lot of detail and experience that has grown into the unwritten culture. This article is my attempt to generalize my observations and opinions about how to work in a way that avoids "outstanding opposition".

Do less

All other things being equal, the less that is done to solve a problem, the better. Not buying stuff is part of this. Example:

We had the issue that the fridge door in the Snack kitchen was regularly being left open, slightly. A sign was put on, yet the door was still sometimes left open. Discussion was had about building on a door closing mechanism, or even ordering a magnetic alarm... before that order was made, we screwed out the feet at the front to make the fridge tilt slightly backwards and greased the hinges that were slightly corroded. The fridge door hasn't been found open again since then.

Feedback

People bringing feedback should be aware that it can be hard to hear; people having it brought to them should be aware it can be hard to tell. Being given feedback when doing a task can be particularly frustrating, since you are already in it—but would you rather receive it after you are are finished? People thinking of giving feedback: is it really worth giving the feedback at all, do you really want a different outcome? It is important to differentiate 'advice' and 'resistance'. Not clear? Ask/say explicitly.

Work in progress (WIP)

Not all projects can be finished straight away, that's OK. Still, tidy things up as best you can for now, and leave a note with your name and date on it if it's in common space. Prioritize finishing your WIP, or move it to personal storage. Multiple WIPs are Not Cool™️

Work estimation

is hard: books are written about it. You might have a good guess when you're exactly copying something you've done before, but with every new aspect of a new project comes an additional dimension of uncertainty. It can be emotionally challenging to start something and find out it's a much bigger task than you thought, and it might tempt you to rush...

Don't rush

Rushing leads to mistakes. Mistakes can mean a disappointing outcome, a broken tool, a social conflict or even bodily injury. Take a breath, take a break, sleep on it.

Appropriate care

Let's say your building something:

• if you're using abundant trash, just do it
• if you're using stuff that is only periodically salvaged, measure before cutting
• if you're using precious material, measure twice before cutting, get a second opinion and possibly sleep on it.

Appropriate technology

Use the lowest level of technology you can. Whatever you make will be maintained by an unknown future collective—or abandoned. In general:

mechanical > electrical > computational

Order of problem solving preference

1. improve design (people "do the right thing" intuitively)
2. add a sign (people need to read the sign, understand and follow it)
3. mention it (people need to understand and follow + you need to re-mention for new people)
4. make a rule (difficult process, requires monitoring & enforcement to be effective, likely to have undesired side-effects)

Seeking advice

Sometimes it is better to get advice before starting. This is truer the less experience you have of this place or with the thing you are planning to change. Here are some options:

• try the search in this wiki 🔝
• try the search in Mattermost
• write in the most appropriate channel in Mattermost (if in doubt, use ~in-house)
• leave a note on an item/area you're planning to work on, see if anyone comes back to you
• ask your host or someone who's been here longer: they might know themself, or point you to someone else
• if you tried the above without success, you can ask at CoMe