[IAEP] Do nice guys finish first?

[dfarning at sugarlabs.org]

Over the last couple of months I have been struggling with some of the shifts in Sugar Labs.  My greatest concern has been the increasing emphasis on transactions over reciprocity.

Transactions represent the notion that individuals take action with the expectation that they will be rewarded for their action.  Reciprocity is the idea that if one gives freely, other will be inclined to do likewise.  Both involve acting in one own self interest.

The problem with transactions is that they tend to cause competition.  In Sugar Labs that competition is for credit, attention and resources.  Transactions involve bookkeeping -- either implicitly or explicitly.  Transactions crowd out reciprocity.

Reciprocity involves working on the Sugar Labs mission and giving that work freely to Sugar Labs with the expectation that other will build on your work to further the mission.

Maybe it is a growth phase.  1 year ago Sugar Labs had little worth competing for. 1 year ago participants remembered the fresh wounds of the OLPC spinoff.  1 year ago conversations were about how can we work together to make Sugar awesome.

I hope that Sugar Labs can get back to working together to make Sugar awesome.

david
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