I have been thinking about our goal of "becoming a sustainable business." Any business is going to need to be able to keep track of it's resources. Labor is the most important resource most organizations have. For this reason, I think that because of our goal of becomming a sustainable buisiness, we need to figure out what our expectations of membership are, so that we can then determine when those expectations are being fulfilled. I think that having expectations of members both A) helps the organization, and B) helps the individuals.

A: How expectations of members helps an organization: the organization can tell what it's labor resources are, and how they are being used. Synergy is created as those in the organization recognize that others are living up to the same expectations that they themselves are, as they understand they are part of a group effort. Because there are actual expectations, things actually get done in a systematic way, so that the organization is able to monitor it's progress and achieve objectives.

B: How expectations of members helps the individual members themselves: first, they get to be part of a group they know is accomplishing it's objectives. Second, they know that they are part of a group effort, and that they are not the only ones working. Third, it helps give the individual members direction, which is particularly important if they are supposed to be "self-directed" workers, who do not work under supervisors! Expectations can be guidlines for effectively participating in a group effort in a self-directed way.

I got to thinking about our reletively open-membership policy. The only type of business I know of that has an open-membership are Co-ops. According to what I call "the articles of faith of the Co-op movement", and what is actually called the "Statement on Co-operative Identity" ( http://www.cooponline.coop/about_whatis_values.html ), even Co-ops have some expectations of membership:

#1: Must be able to use the services of the Co-op ( in a "worker Co-op" this would mean that the person must be able to be employed working at the Co-op.)

#2: Must be able to accept the responsibilities of membership (which could be just about anything.)

Dare we have more open membership than even a Co-op, and still expect to have a sustainable business? I think at the very least, we need to determine what our responsibilies of membership are! (If our only goal was to "become a developer [and/or user] community", then perhaps this would not be neccesary. But that isn't even one of our goals, instead we have "become a sustainable business" and "develop the Squawk franchise.")

To learn more about Co-ops:

The University of Wisconsin has a web site specifically for introducing Americans to the concept of Co-ops: http://www.wisc.edu/coops/index.html . This website is perfect for introducing people to the idea of Co-ops.

Basic information covered on this site includes the history of Co-ops in general, the history of Co-ops in the USA specifically, reasons to form a Co-op, the principles behind the Co-op movement, and how Co-ops are different from other organizations. Also included is a to-do checklist for starting a Co-op, information about Co-op management rolls and different types of Co-ops as well. In addition to Co-op news, the website even has educational games to help people learn more about the Co-op movement. Serious study of this web site will eventually lead the reader to more elaborate explanations of worker Co-ops, like the ICA group ( http://www.ica-group.org/2nd%20Row/FAQs2.html .) In one of the sites games, it actually goes through a community, and demonstrates how most of a community's infrastructure can actually be ran by Co-op.

Go play this game - http://www.wisc.edu/coops/gamefind/index.html