a seattle moment

[ironymaiden]

i belong to an organization, which to protect the innocent, will remain nameless. i love it and all the people involved, and in fact am making no statement in the following about the value of the proposals made tonight.

this organization decided to consider a name change back in July. after several layers of process, and winnowing 200 or so name suggestions down to a final five and then a one, tonight was the vote on whether or not to confirm the change. this last contender was chosen by a good 2/3 vote.

also on the agenda was a mission statement revision.

assuming a name change is approved, it will not take effect (with the attendant new stationary, etc) until after this July. so, a year from start to finish of process.

during the discussion period, it was proposed that we were being hasty and choosing an inappropriate name, and that, in fact, we should establish a committee to further explore this subject and involve the services of a consultant. in other words, even though everyone in the group has had the opportunity to contribute through a six-month process, THERE HASN'T BEEN ENOUGH DISCUSSION. and there was vocal agreement.

in fact, it was suggested that if we didn't change the name, then we shouldn't rush to change the mission statement, even though everyone seemed to be in agreement that the change was in line with the professionally facilitated "visioning" in July.

i'm really a part of life in Seattle now, where everything is done by a committee, where no decision is final, even if we all voted. and in this case, three times :)

Comments

[skwairpeg.livejournal.com]

That sounds like the way things are run at my company. We're always having meetings and taking votes and planning and discussing and establishing and facilitating.... and nothing ever seems to get done!