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Conduct-and-Culture-How-To-Not-Be-Excellent.md

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How to Not Be Excellent

There's lots of ways to be excellent. Unfortunately, there are also many ways to not be excellent.

If you find yourself doing things on the list below, please pause and reflect: your actions are very likely not excellent. Why not check with a friend, or your mom, or a board member or officer, or the other party?

Behaviors that are frequently non-excellent:

Context matters, and so there are circumstances where many of these actions can be excellent. Persevering in asking a close friend battling depression to go dancing like they used to is generous. Persisting in asking the cute hacker who just joined to go dancing after they've turned you down twice is not excellent at best, and harassment at worst.

  • Consuming hackerspace resources more than most. For example:

    • Installing a cryptocurrency mining rig,
    • Occupying a whole shelf of the fridge,
    • Storing an entire tree under a table,
    • Taking up every workshop table to refinish fourteen table tops,
    • Running an extension cord out to your van every time you come to the space,
    • Permanently camping on a workshop table,
    • Parking (or living in) your car every day at the space,
    • Recharging a fleet of scooters from the space,
    • Running a public bittorrent server on our network.

    Many of these things can be converted from non-excellent to excellent by making a reasoned proposal to the board.

  • Crossing personal boundaries. For example:

    • Using another member's tools without their explicit prior permission.
    • Giving somebody a backrub without a verbal offer and an earnest positive reply.
    • Accessing another person's computer or account, or saving files of theirs that aren't obviously intended for the public. This is non-excellent, no matter how foolish or careless they were, no matter how arrogantly or badassly they present themselves. Just log them off or whatever and send a discrete note to remind them of good practice.
    • Offering your uninvited thoughts about what another person is wearing. Yes, in some cases this might be excellent or it might be very non-excellent. In particular, though, women don't want your advice on how often they should smile or what kinds of clothes they should or shouldn't wear.
    • Referring to a person by other than the name or pronoun they prefer.

  • Consuming a person's time at the space more than is excellent. For example:

    • Continuing to engage another person in online or offline communication even when they've asked you to stop.
    • Repeatedly asking another person to go on an activity with you after they've politely declined twice.
    • Scheduling your visits to the space to anticipate the times another member will be present.
    • Interrupting a person who is actively at work without asking them if it's a good time to chat, or without actively looking for signs and cues they want to get back to work
    • After a long conversation, think: did you do almost all of the talking? If so, perhaps you should wait for the other person to start the next conversation, and then to listen more.

    Would you, in a moment of honesty, say "I have many gifts, but socially I am somewhat awkward"? That's fine! So would many or most of us! But those of us who are should be especially reflective about these social gray lines.

  • Making the space less pleasant. For example:

    • Creating a lot of dust, noise, or smell
    • Leaving hazardous materials unlabelled, or laying about, or in some cases even bringing them to the space.
    • Using the workshop for more than an hour and not cleaning up more than what you messed
    • Not asking for help when you feel even a little bit unsafe using a tool
    • Bringing a dog that poops on the floor or growls at people

  • Letting negative behavior persist without taking action.

    • Seeing someone using a tool unsafely
    • Seeing someone harass another member
    • Experiencing repeated behavior that makes you not want to return to the space

These and other patterns of non-excellent behavior are not your fault and not your responsibility to address. But, unless impossible, please politely notify the other person, or ask someone to intervene, or notify an officer, or contact law enforcement, or a resource line. It is always appropriate to contact the board anonymously, but please never contact another member anonymously.

  • Notify the board: email [email protected]
  • Send an anonymous email: www.sendanonymousemail.net/
  • Emergency: Call 911
  • National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline: 800.656.HOPE (4673).
  • Austin Abuse/Exploitation 24-hr SAFEline – Call 512.267.SAFE (7233) or Text 737.888.7233 or visit safeaustin.org/chat
  • Suicide Hotline: 800-273-8255.
  • ?? Should we have printed cards that one may use to signal a "Request for Distance" or "Invitation to be more excellent"

Remember, our goal is to Be Excellent. The right question to ask is not, "is doing this legal or technically permitted?" but rather "is doing this excellent?"