[Robotgroup] Mission Statements

[Def Egge]

At 13:12 2006/09/20 -0700, you wrote:
>Hey, I've been lurking here, not contributing anything to RG, so what
legitimacy does that give me to chime in?  What the hell...
> 
>Mission statements seem to develop a life of their own.  Fascinating to
watch, but not necessarily a good thing.
> 
>Mission statements can unite and rally, but can also disenfranchise those
with differing visions.  Usually not a good thing.  Very important that the
mission statement for a volunteer organization be inclusive to a fault.
> 
>Simple mission statements are often great.  Complex mission statements
less often so.
> 
>A mission statement sounds so formal.  And people with a mission in life,
aren't many of those the folks I avoid making eye contact with?  Instead,
how about a group mantra:
>We like robots.  We build robots.  We build art robots.  We build robot
art.  We talk about robots.  We talk about building robots.  We talk about
our mission.
> 
>A recursive mission statement perhaps?  The Robot Group exists for the
purpose of defining its mission, meanwhile having a good time building art
robots and robot art and discussing robots and art and our mission.
> 
>Sorry about all that.
>_______________________________________________
>Robotgroup mailing list
>Robotgroup at puremagic.com
>http://lists.puremagic.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/robotgroup


Hi, again, Vadim.

It is always nice to see a charter member pop in to check up on the group.
You are always welcome to share your thoughts without apologies.

Two comments:

1) Perhaps the reason you don't make eye contact with people with missions
in life is because they know where they are heading, why they are heading
there, and how far they are from their desired destinations.  They don't
have the time to make eye contact and get dragged into idle chat.

On the other hand, The Robot Group is adrift like a rudderless ship.  We
have some momentum (a legacy from those heady, glory days of yore) which
might carry us a bit farther; however, we have no known destination, and no
map to consult.  If we don't have a plan, how will we know when we are
fulfilling it?

The mission statement must be created by consensus.  Even then, it cannot
be all things to all who would seek to join us.  [For the record, we are
not currently all things to all members even without the mission
statement.]  A mission statement that says everything says nothing.  I
would prefer to land on simplicity's side.


2) Collectively, we spend too much time talking about robots and how much
we enjoy and are fascinated by them (and art and technology and ways to
combine them).  If it is the collective will of the group to become a
social club for discussions about robots, technology, and the arts...so be
it.  I, for one, hope for much more.


All the best....

Mike