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Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2003 15:20:29 -0800
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Subject: volunteeritis
From: "Roy T. Fielding" <fielding@gbiv.com>
To: community@apache.org
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Message-Id: <4A16CAE8-2130-11D8-9668-000393753936@gbiv.com>

I just wrote about the importance of volunteerism.  However,
I didn't want to let that go without also warning about the limits
of volunteerism, namely volunteeritis.  That particular malady
is found in the most well-meaning people you will ever meet --
the people who simply want to help in whatever ways they can,
but often without recognizing their own limits.

Volunteeritis is what you get when you volunteer to do more than
you can handle at any given moment.  There are hundreds of reasons
for that, but what must be understood is that volunteering isn't
always a good thing to do.  Even if someone else is ready to
volunteer to do a task, they will often defer to those whom they
consider more "senior" even when it is obvious that person is
already overloaded.  The result is a task that is never completed,
or at least not done anywhere near as quickly as it could have
been done by someone else.

So, my word of warning is simply this: if you are feeling
overwhelmed by what you have volunteered to do, don't just
let it grow on you.  Let others know -- encourage others to
volunteer -- spend your time teaching them how to do things
instead of just doing them yourself.

Happy Thanksgiving,

....Roy


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