Collective Values

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Collective Values

Thank you for continuing to be part of the Collective Values journey! Here’s a quick look at the process. We began by collecting input from individual Citizens’, as they represent the human interests of the Collective. We’ve distilled these values and are now presenting them to the Token House for feedback. These Values are designed to represent the whole Collective and to be used as a tool in making governance decisions. The process of collectively setting these Values is outlined below.

1. Gathering Insights: The Form

We started with a blank slate. We wanted to hear directly from each badgeholder about their personal values and how they apply them in their web3/Optimism life. An open feedback form was circulated, and the response was overwhelming – 57 badgeholders took the time to fill it out, sharing what values resonate with you and why. This served as our initial framework.

2. The Workshop: Diving Deeper

With the insights from the feedback form in hand, we ran our Values workshop. The aim was to discuss, dissect, and decode the value patterns that emerged from the form responses. We wanted to understand what ‘transparency’, ‘integrity’ and ‘OS’ mean in practice.

During the workshop, we:

  • Looked at the original values of OP Labs
  • Discussed the broader implications of each main value pattern identified in the feedback form
  • Debated potential overlaps and why having a guiding set of values is important
  • Coalesced on an initial set of eight main values, with four standing out as clear favorites

The workshop not only provided clarity but also allowed us to see where the overlaps were and how we could consolidate similar ideas into powerful intentions.

Here is a link to the workspace we used.

3. Refining the Values: Bringing Them to Life

Post-workshop, we embarked on the task of refining and rewording the initial values. Our goal? To ensure they were:

  • Unambiguous
  • Clearly stating our priorities
  • Guides for decision-making, especially when faced with dilemmas
  • Representations of behaviors we want to encourage and reward

Each value was given its definition, IRL application and distinct OP flavor – a touch that makes it distinctively ours.

4. The Distilled Values:

The distilled values - obtained by combining and refining the initial sourced values, the discussion in the live workshop into a clear and focused set - were submitted to badgeholders for extra feedback and presented to Token House during their monthly call.

  1. Token House Feedback:

The final step in this process is to gather feedback from the Token House. Please leave your feedback as comments in the forum post below over the next 10 days (deadline Oct 27th)!

We’ll incorporate this feedback into a final set of Values. There will be an opportunity for each member of the Collective to make a commitment to these Values before the first joint house vote in January.

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(Same as above)

:palms_up_together: Open Source/Open Access:

We believe in creating and sharing transparent, accessible, collaborative technologies and information - it’s one of our core collective strengths

IRL: Every action we take is driven by our collective belief in the strength of shared resources and intents

:hourglass_flowing_sand: Long-Term Thinking:

We are long-term thinkers, courageous in our vision and accountable for the impact of our actions. LT>ST

IRL: We’re resilient in our mission to build the Collective sustainably with integrity and intellectual honesty, prioritizing lasting significance over immediate gain.

:sparkles: In it for the Impact:

We know impact must be aptly, justly, and consistently rewarded for us to live the collective good we want to see in the world.

IRL: We reward action vs words and our economy is built to reward impact that is aligned with our collective needs, wants, and ethics.

:bulb: Iterative Innovation:

We’re in constant motion, owning our missteps, we adopt and adapt the newest, most impactful ideas, technologies, and practices.

IRL: We experiment, learn, refine, addressing challenges and driving progress at an agile pace.

:handshake: Community Empowerment:

We value proactive initiatives and improvements that elevate the Collective. “Be the change you want to see” is our way of life.

IRL: Every individual success fuels our collective progress, and the prosperity of our community amplifies personal growth.

And because we want to ensure full alignment on our Collective values, here is yet another opportunity to share your perspectives before the set is finalized.

Thank you for being an integral part of this journey. We value your participation!

SP (@simona_pop) & OP

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Is this for Citizen house badge holders or Token house collective members?

The title “Token House” makes it seem like this is post is for anyone to provide input on and wanted to clarify this for everyone else who may be reading this and wondering the same thing.

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The Values are applicable to both houses - they are Collective Values. The badgeholders/Citizens’ House has already given feedback on these, so now it is the Token House’s turn to provide feedback :slight_smile:

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1. Gathering Insights: The Form

Personally our values are aligned with many of the same values shared in the Optimistic Vision. When first discovered back in early 2021 the Optimism network appeared to us as a viable way to integrate our traditional business model with web3 & blockchain technology to provide more transparency for the work that we achieve related to impact.

2. The Workshop: Diving Deeper

Transparency on the blockchain provides a clear understanding of the behavior from an individual wallet address. To us this is a very valuable tool for sharing information that was not previously available to the public. It helps those who are not in the ecosystem gain a clear view from the outside world in order to gather all the necessary tools or resources one may need prior to becoming involved with cryptocurrency. The trust that is established through onchain verification provides a seamless experience for financial sectors and many other businesses that can utilize blockchain technology for real world use cases. The integrity of blockchain applications is based around these permission less systems that help to provide security through P2P verification.

“OS” aka Open Source stands for the ability to become replicated by any individual. When a project declares it is open source they allow others to use any publicly available resources to be used by anyone.

3. Refining the Values: Bringing Them to Life

Having to execute a plan for the collective to align with is also a challenge in itself. The ability to display a collective effort through the form of a governance dashboard that keeps track of the overall activity of the governance is something we would love to see implemented. There are many amazing developers and other contributors to the Optimism ecosystem which are not necessarily easy to spot at first glance. Onchain activity is one source of metric data that we can utilize to track the behavior of users on the network.

A guide is not always going to help when facing a dilemma. We must rely on each other to evaluate the collective values that are an integral component when maintaining the checks and balances of governance. Ethical behavior is something that should be taken into consideration when evaluating a situation.

Having a CoC with anonymous sources reporting members of the community has become a double edged sword that bad actors can use to manipulate the governance while leaving serious collateral damage behind. Hurting reputable members who also serve as delegates & public goods donors of the collective.

It is crucial that we fund what matters the most in order to create a sustainable public goods ecosystem.

Determining what is an impactful and conscious effort that adds value to the overall experience is always a difficult decision to make.

For our team we always come back to the formula of IMPACT OVER PROFIT when we get lost and try to reevaluate the equation of the problem we face with this implementation every time. This always helps us realign our vision in a constant and consistent manner when working on our mission along the way.

4. The Distilled Values:

Our individual strengths and weaknesses become irrelevant when we perform as a collective. We embrace our diversity and believe in our collective self enough to constantly communicate with honesty, transparency, humility, and vulnerability.

Without these qualities the governance will become dissociated with the collective consciousness of the Optimism token house. It is very important to be as close to the pulse of the community in order to maintain a healthy and positive user experience for all members of the governance.

5. Token House Feedback:

:palms_up_together: Open Source/Open Access:

Our team is committed to providing transparency with the utilization of blockchain technology. We have created a platform that helps to highlight impact makers who contribute to Public Goods.

IRL: We want impact to translate into real world data that can be recorded on the blockchain in order to track efficacy on individuals or projects efforts which we can share with others as a positive example.

:hourglass_flowing_sand: Long-Term Thinking:

We are building for the future generations ahead of us. Laying down the framework of a strong foundation that will provide long lasting sustainable growth.

IRL: Our efforts go far above & beyond what one might expect. There is a ton of sacrifice that had to be made in order for others to succeed. The future depends on us to make the right decisions about our economy & environment. Together we can build a better world.

:sparkles: In it for the Impact:

Impact makers are important and need to be recognized for their efforts. Leading the way for others with impact reports to help teach new contributors how to make a difference. Data is full of raw facts that can be used to help fuel public goods.

IRL: We are going to reward the impact makers who can find the unique balance between making an impact while still being able to generate a sustainable amount of profit. Attracting other builders who are passionate about sustainability and helping each other.

:bulb: Iterative Innovation:

Our team has adopted many of the standards that have been set by the OP Stack. Reiterating this in our own creative way with a similar retroactive funding mechanism built into our impact initiative platform. We exemplify the importance of Public Goods to other builders who are looking for opportunities to create something impactful for the web3 space.

IRL: Our team is learning through experimentation and experience from over the years. Trail & error has always been the type of process that has les us t9 keep pushing forward as time goes on.

:handshake: Community Empowerment:

Fractal Visions has set out on a mission to help other creators share the message behind their vision with other people all around the world.

IRL: Each creator that joins us along the way becomes an integral part of the ecosystem. Furthermore they are also helping to contribute towards the development and growth of the Optimism collective by joining Fractal Visions in the effort to create sustainable public goods.

Summary

This outlines our journey on the Collective Values:

  1. Gathering Insights: The Form

    • Describes alignment with Optimistic Vision and integrating traditional business with blockchain for transparency.

  2. The Workshop: Diving Deeper

    • Emphasizes the value of blockchain transparency and its potential for financial sectors and businesses.

  3. Refining the Values: Bringing Them to Life

    • Highlights the challenge of executing collective plans, monitoring onchain activity, and the importance of ethical behavior.

  4. The Distilled Values

    • Promotes diversity, communication, and transparency for healthy governance.

  5. Token House Feedback

    • Expresses commitment to open source, long-term thinking, impact recognition, iterative innovation, and community empowerment.

The overall message is about aligning values with blockchain technology, fostering transparency, and recognizing impact within a collective effort.

This is a reflection on aligning personal values with blockchain technology, particularly Optimism, and the potential it offers for transparency. Discussing the importance of onchain activity, ethical behavior, and the challenges of governance. This post also emphasizes the value of diversity, communication, and transparency in collective efforts. Additionally, it expresses a commitment to open source principles, long-term thinking, recognizing impact, iterative innovation, and community empowerment. In essence, the Fractal Visions core team conveys a commitment to using blockchain for positive impact, transparency, and ethical behavior while promoting community and collaboration in achieving these goals.

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Community empowerment feels vague to me. I don’t know exactly what we mean by that. Are we empowering individuals to make impact within the ecosystem? Are we empowering the community to make decisions for the collective?

I also am wondering if there is any value here regarding community direction? As in, allowing the community to govern itself. Maybe it’s covered by a value already or a mixture of a few, but it doesn’t seem immediately apparent to me. I’m also unclear how these values will be used. How do they fit in with our other guiding documents? Like the optimistic vision, working constitution, etc.

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The workshop was interesting to me, as I participated if I recall correctly.

But personally the only thing I value and care about from the above is open source and transparency. Long term thinking too.

The rest nice though they sound is quite vague and just fluff.

In it for the Impact → Impact is very hard to measure and the way I have seen impact measured in this field is mostly through words unfortunately. Few care, notice or reward consistent hard-work. What is impact and how to measure it also is in the eye of the beholder and as such this is vague.
Iterative innovation → Stating the obvious. So not really useful.
Community Empowerment → Vague. The term “community” is overused by the crypto field.

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Here’s the intention with the values from the post above. As this space evolves, it’s essential to maintain alignment with values that ensure our progression on the right path if you will. Establishing a common reality for us to exist and make decisions in feels like an important starting/check in point for newcomers and OGs alike.

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I hear you both…I am always mindful of a set of values reflecting the multifaceted character of the Collective so as close to a 360 degree approach is what the whole process was designed to do. Sometimes relaying macro and micro can be a tough task.

Thinking of the following to make it more specific:

:handshake: Community Stewardship:

Community members actively contribute to the maintenance, decision-making, and sustainable use of communal resources. Community leaders lead by example as individuals in service of the broader Collective.

IRL: The role of community leadership is to serve the broader Collective, optimizing for collective benefits rather than personal gain.

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How come we were the only ones to participate in this ?

Wasn’t it supposed to be for the whole collective to respond ?

Let us know if there is anything else that is needed from our team down the road. Happy to help!

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