Governance Accelerator Program Recap | BanklessDAO Weekly Rollup

Catch Up With What Happened This Week in BanklessDAO

Jan 7

Dear Bankless Nation 🏴,

Welcome to the New Year! It's good to be back after the holiday season. Hopefully you made time to reflect, relax, and recharge. Now it’s time to switch from 'holiday mode' to 'bDAO mode' as Season 6 continues and 2023 calls us to new heights.

Governance participation is, as always, crucial to the operational health of the DAO. In this week's editorial, Quilia takes us through the Governance Accelerator Program, a Writers Guild educational initiative run by nonsensetwice. Be inspired to add your ideas to current Forum proposals and sign in to Snapshot to vote on bDIP-02; let's make UTC the official time of BanklessDAO.

Speaking of time, we’re rapidly approaching Season 7. Check out the Season 7 specifications and DAO wide Coordinape posts on the Forum, plus check in with guild, department, and project teams about seasonal budget proposals. Planning for the future is something many of us turn our minds to in the new year, so it’s timely to have held discussions about refining DAO spending to optimize for sustainability in this week's Community Call roundtable, led by the ever-cool Icedcool. If you feel strongly about this topic, perhaps you’d like to run for Grants Committee; keep an eye out for applications in the next few days.

There is plenty to discuss, and we’re doing that together, as a community. We refer to our mission often, but remember our values: education, integrity, decentralized governance, and culture. These are the qualities that will help us to thrive this year and beyond.

It's a new year and the Rollup has you covered for new content. Relax listening to the podcasts, laugh a little (courtesy of the meme of the week), and seek out some fresh reading via Bankless Publishing. Have a great week!

Contributors: Quilia, KingIBK, ab_colours, AustinFoss, Warrior, theconfusedcoin, nonsensetwice, anointingthompson1, WinVerse, Liquidiot, siddhearta, Trewkat, HiroKennelly

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Governance Accelerator Program Recap

Author: Quilia

Image credit: ab_colours (w/ tweaks by Trewkat)

Why does governance matter in a system categorically founded on technology?

DAOs and other NFT and DeFi-native communities are organizations that have seen an appreciable increase in members since inception. These are diverse communities of people who each have distinct opinions. With appropriate processes to manage conduct, communities can envisage a smoothly-run system with occasional, yet expected, conflict over opposing views.

Governance in DAOs is commonly perceived as a management system for general decision-making to control finance and operations. However, it is not enough to have a scheme for delegated people to run the treasury and the operation of the DAO; it is equally important to ensure that everyone is involved in the decision-making process.

Governance is everyone’s responsibility

Governance in web3 is about creating a fair and free system where everyone who takes part can make decisions. It means all participants have to take responsibility and be involved in deciding how the network is run by using their governing rights.

Leadership, in any context, is a highly sought-after responsibility that people take on for different reasons. For some, it may be the compensation; for others, it is the sense of pride or personal fulfillment. Some may be deterred by the responsibilities, but leadership in DAOs is different from centralized systems, where being a figurehead automatically makes you the leader. In decentralized systems, we work to bring everyone together to collaborate and achieve a common goal. People are encouraged and empowered to bring their own personal leadership qualities to our shared endeavors.

In Season 5, the BanklessDAO Writers Guild commenced the Governance Accelerator Program (GAP). The program was initiated as a means to “facilitate, educate, and promote competency in the realm of governance.” The goal was to provide a learning pathway for DAO members who shy away from governance processes or feel they do not have what it takes to be in a leadership position. The program was designed to help members be more confident and outspoken, and trust their own opinions and ability to take on coordination and leadership.

The course was captained by nonsensetwice, an OG in the Writers Guild, who meticulously and spiritedly took participants through a riveting curriculum of political and general philosophy, spiced up with some critical thinking sessions and thought-provoking tasks.

Concept of the Governance Accelerator Program

The GAP kicked off in the early weeks of Season 5 and finished in mid-November of Season 6. Meetings took place in the ‘Writers Room’ voice channel in the BanklessDAO Discord server.

The curriculum consisted of:

Research articles and excerpts
Philosophical books and excerpts
Discussions and sessions about readings for the week
Tasks and assignments on various content and books each week with evaluations.

The goal of this educational curriculum was to instil discipline, help people contribute to BanklessDAO in a positive way, get participants to work hard, and help them become better writers and thinkers.

The sessions were divided into two blocks: Block One and Block Two. Block One consisted of four weeks of exploration and provision of a foundation in critical thinking and writing. Essentially, the first four weeks introduced the program’s context, while working to improve critical thinking and rationalizing thoughts. For each week’s reading, there was a task/assignment given.

Week 1

Radical Thought by Jean Baudrillard

This reading makes the comparison between radical thought and reality as an insolvable relationship. The author explained reality as the end result of the merge of different forms of a particular type of thought into a rigid, self-believed truth. Jean Baudrillard also expressed a dualism analogous to logical reasoning communicated with the tool of opposing ideas and those based on rational, critically thought solutions.

Week 2

Afraid to be Free: Dependency as Desideratum by James M. Buchanan

This reading describes how, for most people, decision making is based on limited, or a provided set, of options for them which in turn eventually leads to capitalism, socialism, or democracy. In the author’s words, “For the most part, and most of the time, we make choices on the various margins that present themselves, with the result that all societies are more or less capitalistic, more or less socialistic, more or less democratic.”

This way of thinking further sinks people into an oblivious belief that they are under siege or control, and need to be protected. In this type of situation, it is easy to shelve social-, personal-, and governance-related responsibilities and not own up to their own faults.

Week 3

Is a “Decentralized Autonomous Organization” a Panopticon? by Kelsie Nabben

Albert Camus and The Ethics of Rebellion by James E. Caraway

Kelsie’s paper discusses algorithmic governance as a strength and weakness in building DAOs, though the major focus for the week was on James Caraway’s description of life and its absurdity.

According to Caraway, “Any knowledge must be on the basis of immediate personal experience.” He mentions that, “The Absurd is not in man (if such a metaphor could have a meaning) nor in the world, but in their presence together. For the moment it is the only bond uniting them.”

James explains the relationship between man and the world as a supposed mutual and equal beneficial transaction between man and the world which is often tampered with by the world itself without man having any control over it. He says, “Man finds himself in the world, and he must of necessity live in the world, but the world does not fulfill his basic longings.”

This can be safely correlated to the kind of relationship that people have with each other and others that are entirely out of their immediate circle. At times, we do not have control over the decisions that have been made for us in society and all we are allowed is to abide by these rules (this can also happen on a much smaller scale with a few individuals).

This is yet another clear importance of practicing a healthy governance system, in any society. Governance helps to equally distribute responsibilities and rewards, and avoids a symbiotic relationship, in any form, where either the people or the system is not fulfilling their part.

Week 4

Tools for Conviviality: Radical Monopoly by Ivan Illich

According to Ivan Illich, monopoly is described as “the exclusive control by one corporation over the means of producing (or selling) a commodity or service.” And even though it is a useful tool on some occasions, it does more harm than good. Radical Monopoly then, is the extreme version of monopoly where the options given as a response to human personal needs have been so narrowed down that they can not think of any other solution besides the ones provided.

A practical example given by Ivan is the conducting of funeral services. Before, funeral services were held with the aid of priests and professional diggers. But now, a funeral director’s services are generally compulsory even if you are not interested in using them.

“Against this radical monopoly people need protection. They need this protection whether consumption is imposed by the private interests of undertakers, by the government for the sake of hygiene, or by the self-destructive collusion between the mortician and the survivors, who want to do the best thing for their dear departed,” says Ivan.

The best way to deal with a monopolistic situation is for everybody to see it as a point of duty to take on governance. This dissolves the monopoly idea that decisions and opinions of members of the community have to be narrowed down to seemingly provided options and lifts the restriction on personal autonomy.

Week 5

The Ascent of Humanity by Charles Eisenstein

The featured chapter focuses on governance being everybody’s responsibility and no one having the right to run away from it. Governance is a medium through which everyone in the community expresses their concerns and opinions, where decisions are made without the fear of revolt or chaos. Eisenstein’s example of the evolution of music can be likened to people who do not want to partake in governance just because they feel like other people can do it. Why should they take the lead? But as a consequence, they do not improve in better decision making and in community communication due to inferiority about their own abilities.

The program was rounded up with sessions on the book: On Conflict and Consensus: A Handbook on Formal Consensus Decision Making by C.T. Lawrence Butler and Amy Rothstein.

Formal Consensus encourages one to not suppress conflict but rather create a method where opinions and feelings can be peacefully expressed without restriction. Although this sounds somewhat vague and futile: to actually create a zero neutral ground for voicing out ideas and options from different individuals without actual strife is herculean. However, this can be achieved if Formal Consensus is adopted. Formal Consensus is a governance process that safely imbibes conflict in a positive way. Essentially, for formal consensus to be fully wielded, an environment that promotes trust, respect, and gainful interaction and skill sharing must be made.

Humans have lived in social structures from the beginning of time. As civilization evolved, so did our social structures; monarchies, governments, social and political groupings, and organizations. Every institution has some type of governance at its core, whether it is social, corporate, public, or religious. The way it is chosen to be run at each of these levels is dependent on the people and system factor. Whether they are institutionalized, such as organizations and governments, or informal, these groups enable us to do things we would not be able to do on our own. By combining the individual strengths of everyone in the group, we can create a strong, tenacious community.

The Governance Accelerator Program aimed to make its members more bold, out-spoken, and less fearful of participating in governance-related duties. Thanks must go to nonsense for the huge amount of attention and energy he brought to the program.

🗓 Weekly Recap

Community Highlights

📺 Weekly Rollup Recap With Liquidiot

Boom… it's that time again. Liquidiot is back with a short and sweet recap of the most recent Rollup. It’s sooo last year, but worth the wait! You can always watch previous episodes on the BanklessDAO YouTube Channel. Cheers.

✍️ Bankless Academy Writing Cohort

Are you ready to create web3 educational content? Join the Bankless Academy Writing Cohort in a 4-week program starting January 19, 2023. Become a web3 creator by writing consistently and getting the support you need to hit publish. Develop your voice and grow your online presence while building relationships with fellow Bankless Academy Explorers. All participants will have the chance to become the next author of Bankless Academy articles. The program consists of:

🎥 Live group sessions
🙌 Team support
🚀 Motivation
🗓️ Powerful consistent schedule

The only requirement is to be ready to write and educate along with us. The program is free but capacity is limited. Take your first steps in web3 education writing! Sign up and showcase your teaching potential with Bankless Academy.

❤️ Panvala X BanklessDAO

Panvala is a network of communities that collaborate and benefit from the organisation’s shared endowment. In addition to offering community funding, Panvala Stamps are a form of NFT that have a monetary value. These stamps can be collected by purchasing or completing tasks, then redeemed for their face value with any community of your choice (BanklessDAO community). In exchange for every stamp you purchase as a BanklessDAO member, the BanklessDAO community receives a funding contribution. To claim your stamps, all you need to do is follow the instructions.

Fresh Content

🎙 BanklessDAO Podcasts

Get Involved

💰 Submit Your Funding Requests

We are already halfway through Season 6. Time is flying and Season 7 will be upon us sooner than you think. This is just a reminder to all guilds, departments, and projects that funding requests for Season 7's seasonal funding package must be posted to the Forum by Friday, January 20, 2023 at 23:59 UTC.

Learning Opportunities

🌱 New Joiner Session S6x04

Do you want to spend time with experienced DAO contributors to talk more about your challenges as a new member and get some friendly advice?

Well, that's what the New Joiners Session is for. A human-friendly, no-bot-allowed chat session. Join us on Monday, January 9 at 13:45 UTC to learn more about bDAO and how to get involved. Meet mentors who could guide you on your journey into DAO life and other new joiners who’ll become your fellow travelers. To get plugged in and feel the BanklessDAO vibes, RSVP to the event.

🧮 DAOlationships Demo — Skytale Finance

Skytale bundles all transactions of cryptoassets in one dashboard, regardless of their wallets and blockchain protocol. It offers:

A more sophisticated and faster search engine allowing the users to combine together multiple filters to search across unlimited wallets.
A classification engine to detect scams and malicious attacks.
Enrichment of off-chain data such as historical FIAT value.
An accounting solution to add tags, labels, and notes on any transactions.
A bookkeeping tool to import transactions on QuickBooks for tax reporting.

Join us on Wednesday, January 11 at 19:30 UTC in the watercooler voice channel to learn more. To set a reminder, RSVP to the event.

🎁 DAOlationship Demo — Ottr Finance

With Ottr Finance, going Bankless has never been easier. Built on Solana, Ottr offers instant global payments — pay your friends with just an $ottrname or phone number. Save in USD from anywhere. Decipher the best of crypto with Ottr as your guide. Join us in the watercooler voice channel on Thursday, January 12 at 17:00 UTC to learn more. To set a reminder, RSVP to the event.

🎇 How To Sobol

Sobol is a web-based platform that provides flexibility for teams to govern themselves and run their organization according to their unique culture. If you want to know the organization of the DAO and how to find different information about roles, guilds, Notion pages, multi-sigs, and members of our community, join the Education Department in the watercooler voice channel on Tuesday, January 10 at 14:00 UTC to learn more about using Sobol. To set a reminder, RSVP to the event.

🧑‍🎓 Knowledge Session: Stablecoins

Would you love to learn all about stablecoins and the part they play in the smooth running of DeFi? If yes, then this knowledge session is for you. Join the Education Department on Wednesday, January 11 at 14:00 UTC on the watercooler voice channel. To set a reminder, RSVP to the event.

👏 How To Coordinape

Coordinape is a platform that enables peers in the DAO to reward each other for their contributions in the previous month. Join the Education Department on Thursday, January 12 at 14:00 UTC in the watercooler voice channel to learn the basics of Coordinape. To set a reminder, RSVP to the event.

🏛 Governance

Snapshot Votes

⌚ bDIP-02: Coordinated Timing Across BanklessDAO

After first being proposed on the Forum in mid-November, bDIP-02 took its time reaching the quorum of 51 votes. More than one month later, it has finally hit Snapshot for a vote to amend our Constitution by adding the following section:

DAO Coordination
BanklessDAO coordinates around Universal Coordinated Time (UTC). Wherever possible, meeting and event times are expressed in this timezone.

Twice a year certain countries observe the one hour change to daylight savings time from spring to summer, and back to standard time from fall to winter. As a global DAO, this routinely causes scheduling problems, even with the help of sesh bot’s time conversions. By setting our DAO standard time to UTC this bDIP aims to ease this pain point. Voting ends on Monday at 11:00 UTC!

Proposals in Discussion

🦧 DAO-Wide Coordinape Season 7 Proposal Draft 3

Coordinape has been a feature of bDAO since the beginning but unfortunately it might be an example of the old adage: “this is why we can’t have nice things”. While the majority of Coordinape rounds have not had any problems, analysis of recent rounds has brought to light some operational problems as well as concerns about gaming of the system.

Draft 1 of this Forum post received 49 votes, with 57% against and 37% in favour of pausing Coordinape in S7. Draft 2 received 75 votes, with 50% in favour of reducing each round from 1.5 million BANK to 500,000, 27% for pausing Coordinape in S7, and 15% for neither action. This third draft is a vote between:

“We should enact a Season 7 pause for the DAO-Wide Coordinape”
“We should reduce the Season 7 Coordinape to 500,000 per period”

For context: 4.5 million BANK is about 20% of the last three seasonal budgets and it’s important to know that such a significant portion of funds is being spent towards its intended purpose. Neither decision would be permanent and a longer term plan would be devised in Season 7.

7️⃣ [Draft 1] Season 7 Specification

Please review the proposed timeline for Season 7 and provide any feedback regarding the adjustment of dates.

Season 7 Operations Timeline

February 6: Season 7 begins
February 10: The Season 7 Kick-Off Event will be held on Twitter
March 31: All funding requests from guilds, departments, and projects to be posted to the Forum for the Grants Committee to review
March 31 - April 13: Grants Committee to work with groups to review funding requests
April 7: Draft 1 of the Season 8 Specification to be posted to the Forums
April 14 - 20: Grants Committee to work with groups to finalize funding requests
April 14 - 23: Season 8 Grants Committee Election applications accepted
April 24: The Season 8 Grants Committee election will be posted to Snapshot
April 24: The Season 8 Specification will be posted to Snapshot
April 24: The Season 8 Budget Request will be posted to Snapshot
May 1 - 7: Gap Week
May 7: Last day of Season 7