disenchanted

I'm sorry, and I love you.

Me too.

The experiment will have a beautiful outcome.  And it won't be ending any time soon…

The silent majority is intrigued and playing with the idea, sending seeds left and right.  Let's focus on them.

Let the neurotic just be.  We can't transform their sensitivities into happiness, no matter what we do. 

We can give those already happy, or ready for happiness, the gifts to become even more so.  :) 

So what's next?

Hi Jake,
I love you, too!  The seed system touched some areas within me. I realize I have some wounds that need healing and I would not have known this without the implementation of this system. I suspect the same may be true for others. I sincerely Thank YoU for this opportunity to grow! 

I went to a leadership conference and the speaker gave a scenerio where people receive ten comments, nine positive and one not. He stated that studies show we tend to remember the not. Ouch,  my fear with the seeds is to get the not. 

Some food for thought, studies also show that those who scream the loudest are the most wounded; moreover, some of us may have projected onto you (and other zaadz team members) our own hurt.   Lots of hugs and healing love to all of us!

Some members mentioned we should have been told and had an opportunity to look at this new project before it was launched.  I don't think we could have known the extent of our feelings without experiencing this. Theory and application are two different entities.  Perhaps a pilot group of volunteers, randomly selected if possible, could be put in place.  

As for the seeds, what do we do now?  I like the idea of people giving me a seed for a blog they appreciate.  I could then see how many appreciation seeds I have on a particular topic.  As for the “flag as inappropriate” I believe you all are working or now have in place that people must give their reasons for the flag.  I once had a student give me an anonymous evaluation where they blasted me, my teaching, and the course.  I was hurt.  I felt personally attacked.  I did not find this constructive at all, just a lot of venom spewing.  Therefore, I think in providing the reasons, the person giving the flag is held accountable and must accept responsibility for their opinion while the person receiving will have a learning tool and be given the opportunity to see, if in fact, what they have written needs some additonal thought. 

Thank you so much for your (and the zaadz team) openess, willingness to hear, and  quick response to adjusting the seed system.

May we all continuing growing in love, patience, and compassion!
 

Hugs and peaches,

Sprite 

:D  http://videos.zaadz.com/286096/metallica_-_bad_seed

I think this is a really intriguing idea - I also agree with galtenberg that there is a “silent majority” - most people, I think, are just playing with this to see how it works.
This is a community of people who have a lot of experience with not fitting in and with being judged negatively…give them all a minute to play with a new toy and see how it works. I'm guessing that once people realize it isn't going to hurt them and they get the power to be nice and give away good juice, it's going to smooth out.
But it isn't about you, and I so appreciate the efforts of the people who build all the cool toys.
Thank you!

 And I must say here just like I said to Siona, that I feel insulted that you think because people have such strong negative feelings about this that we are “angry, so vehement, so quick to judge. ”
 Don't take it personally, just LISTEN to what people are saying and hear it in a way that you aren't judging it with your own prejudices….it has nothing to do with us being “empowered” ….I won't go into why it is upsetting to some of us…it has been written already by many, many others…
 Just change it or amend it or get rid of it….
 Thanks for letting me say my peace…

 May ALL beings live without suffering

Oh Jake. You got me at the Hawaiian healer. Well you got me before then, but it was signed and sealed by that. I know of him and his work and spread it around as much as I can. Anyone who mentions it gets ALL my seeds ( I would if I could).

I'm sorry and I love you too.

Sandra

ps. If anyone is interested in the healing process mentioned see http://www.hooponopono.org/

Jake,

The system–in the form in which it was released–reflects some basic realities of life that raises some people's worst fears; the assessment of critical review of and accountability for our stated beliefs.  However, I was NOT under the impression that Zaadz was intended to be an escape from life, but an environment in which life's dynamics are replicated so that we can experiment with different approaches to the living/creating of it.  Sure, there are a few people on here who are crying like little children about the seed system, but I propose that resistance and complaining is probably their typical response to life in general.  Let's weather this storm and if people leave, so be it.  I know it will not be a mass exodus; note the previous comment regarding the “silent majority.”

We'll soon find out if “Zaadzters” are the great people that they're cracked up to be by the way they handle this newly awarded responsibility.  Siona repeatedly states that the power of moderation has been placed in the hands of the participants and it seems like there is quite a bit of fear related to that responsibility.  Better to find out now than later if this community has the collective maturity necessary to practically step up to the challenge offered in the Zaadz Mission Statement.

The people that remain I'll be able to count on as partners in dealing with the major spiritual, social, and environmental challenges that accompany life outside the Zaadz-shram.  In the meantime, I'll keep on keeping on, Zaadz or no Zaadz…

Don't sweat the small shit!

Manny

Bottom line, I guess you discovered that “spiritual” people can be just as neurotic, egotistical, conditionally loving (or not) as anyone else. We’ve got a long way to go. When people start attacking like that, its time to pull out the NVCommunication tools (google it).

I have been designing a game that helps communication on many levels beginning with the conversations one has with self. I hope to find a publisher willing to take the project on. Reef or Madness enables the player to gage their social-abilities, learn to use innate powers of perception, observation, etc. to become a king of the sea and have a much better time of life on the surface with other creatures… for that is all we are, just like those in the sea, who happen to live, a lot more peacefully!

ROM

“my goals were to…
…provide a system that allows the community to 1) elevate helpful, thoughtful, inspiring content, 2) De-emphasize unhelpful, abusive or negative content, 3) provide a meaningful way of measuring reputation within the community and 4) provide a positive feedback channel among members and Zaadz administration”

Fair enough.  I am sympathetic as to your aims, my friend.

Opinions are devastating -but my own are, you should have left it the way it was.  The Zaddz team should have left it the way it was. 

This brown-nosing popularity contest that has ensued is beyond rediculous!

Mods having the ability to 'see' how one stands in the popularity stakes?  Holy G-d.  If that is so NOT-ZAADZ I have no f**king idea what is. 

Be well. 

The failure is not in the creation of the concept, but in the corporate failure to apply a marketing stategy to the end product.  The effect not only impacts Zaadz members, but also Zaadz/Gaiam advertisers and investors (who  just hate it when the market begins to percieve their product in a negative light).  It also effects employees with stock options; GAIA has taken a beating of the past two days.

Did you conduct focus groups with a wide spectrum of  users to see how the concept might recieved by users at-large?  Those focus groups would have told given you product feedback now in a safe and controlled environment, with no detrimental consequences.  It would have allowed you to make substantial number of improvements and refinements, or decide whether it's wanted at all, before going live with things.  There are pre-release activities that could have been implemented.  Good marketing practices helps a product be a success as soon as it hits the shelves.  But that didn't happen.

I can't say that the damage control was any more effective.  Zaadz staff came off looking hassled and defensive, when they weren't sounding condescending and completely disconnected from why the mainstream opinion was forming.  In marketing, you anticipate potential customer objections and develop responses to them.  Did you ever have those discussions?  I can guess the answer to that one.  “Trust” was the last thing to come to my mind when reading a Zaadz comment.

My point is that none of this had to happen if Zaadz knew how to run a business, or at the very least knew how to bring a product/feature into the market .  There lies my disenchantment: how am I supposed to take someone seriously about “changing the world” when they can't kick a product sucessfully out the door?  If Zaadz is going to consider itself an “ongoing experimenmt,” they are going to find themselves outpaced by competitors who conduct themselves like the real thing.

I think what you have done is a step towards true democracy and you are, with this system perpetrating the very basic ideals of the forefathers of our nation (I will not say great nation though perhaps it could be should the values like these be truly upheld).  

Those who oppose, perhaps need a big hug.  Its ok, we all have things within ourselves that we judge to be unworthy, and perhaps even ugly, but this is not a judgemental place.  Its a place that love is abundant, and growth applauded, and encouraged.  And even our faults must be acknowledged for true change.  

Must we first experience the oppressive taxes and unnatural requests that a far away entity chooses to lay upon us before we again voice our opinions against such entities?  When they hand us our right, because we are responsible for our actions, are we to hand it back like children afraid to take the blame? 

I hope only to inspire, and say “you have a voice, and you have not only the right, but the responsibility of raising it when the occasion arises that there is an injustice”

Silence is the enemy of change.

Jake, and Zaadz, I believe that you are trying to hold up a mirror so that we can all see ourselves is relation to how others see us.  It definitly increases that idea that in our individual spheres we are not the only thing or person or entity that exists.  THe truth is, we all have a reputation already, and if enough people have been preyed upon or jaded by a certain person, then it is the responsibility of the WHOLE community to make a stand and stop the perpetrator,and for the community to deliberate whole heartedly and with care, about such decisions.

  To make the administrators the only people responsible for this decision is asking not to be responsible, not to take part, and not to be involved.  YOUR VOICE MATTERS!!!  That is not something to be feared, but to be celebrated! 

The more I think about it, the more I want to give you a big kiss and dance and be merry, you have confirmed that even the meek of heart would be able and encouraged to have a word, to say what they need to, but also, to take to heart the responsibility of that voice. 

I personally think you, Jake are innovative, creative, definitely one of the most sensitive souls I have had the pleasure of meeting.  If this is not a place to encourage such endeavors and eradicate the fears of rejection, then perhaps there is no place?

Besides, its not rejection, this system seems to allow the ability to be told that should I post some things that people dont like or are offended by, to allow me to reevaluate what I have written, its values, and actually think about the effect on others.  I think that is a gift

Thank you, Jake. I have a lot more in the way of support of this idea, and I am certainly intrigued…

The mirror is up, and the more mirrors there are, the better chance that everyone will look into it, and see and find the places within that we each may come to believe needs work, or change, or expansion.  And there is nothing in the mirror that is so abominable, and so disgusting that it could cause the dismissal or even the diminishing of Real Love.

Kiso, we don't think like “marketing strategists” - and that's why people like it here. 

And please, the Gaiam/stock angle is completely irrelevant, so let's not start on that meme.

I hope our competitors do the full “marketing and product development” rigamarole.  We're going to stay us.

Wow!  I went away for a week in the woods and came back to a firestorm.  I'd better stay home from now on.  ;-)

My two cents worth:

1.  Don't worry.  I love you too.

2.  We here at Zaadz are different.  We'd better be.  If I didn't think so I'd have already packed my bags and gone elsewhere.  But the broad brush-strokes that paint any community will reflect the background culture.  Same here.  Many people will act and react with insufficient information and incomplete thinking.  Again, same here.

3.  I worked for years in IT, and there seems to be a strange resistance to change on the part of systems users that may not be reflected in other areas of their lives.  Something to do with perceived investment in the old way or something.  Lincoln's quote about pleasing or not pleasing people is definitely applicable.

4.  Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

5.  I agree with a common thread above - give it time.  The number of people who are truly put off by this will turn out to be vanishingly small - and then they will vanish.

6.  I read on some pod (forgot which) about the idea of testing new features using Ambassadors or a pool of volunteers.  Put me down as agreeing with that.  Feedback and modification are then more easily managed.

7.  Anyone who experiences the ongoing changes at Zaadz and decides that they just don't fit is free to decline participation whenever they choose.  Maybe a 'classic view' vs. 'new view' akin to blogspot's roll-out last year - something they say will continue to be available going forward.

8.  I appreciate you and your work.  Keep on keeping on……

Albert

Jake,

i admire you for posting this heartfelt message on your blog. i know how hard you worked on this system, making sure that it turns out as one of the best (and most fair and secure) trust system that are out there. so i feel your disappointment.

as you mentioned, we always listen to our members and make the necessary adjustments based on their feedback. it's our task to balance things. and i think that we as a team are doing the best that we can. so no need to get disenchanted.

i know it's hard not to get emotionally affected since we have so much passion for this community, but it comes with the territory. it's up to us to take deep breaths, separate the constructive criticisms from senseless dissent, let the emotion pass, and carry on as best as we can.

having said that, i'd like to point to a member who's open to what we're doing:

“What is needed is not opinion at all, but constructive ideas on how to find the diamonds in the rough, how to make certain that the seeds system is democratic and intuitive in organizing its information and how to encourage participation in organizing the vast fathoms of information and action-oriented communities on the internet. To that, Zaadz has always been open and the internet as a whole desperately awaits the solutions to these organizational problems amongst community-building websites.”

my two cents.

keep it flowing….

~C

While I'm not a supporter of the new system, I certainly don't think there was any ill will or devious scheme behind it being created. In fact, from what I've seen from the zaadz team they have very good intentions and are wonderful people. 

Oh and Jake, I have mad respect for you after reading your very heartfelt post!!  

Thanks for writing this,  Jake.  The truth of the matter is, is you made an attempt to empower the community with a step towards democracy and choice– and well, not everyone can handle that.  Many did not even bother to read clarifications– they were in it for the drama of it.

But the system you built here is genius, and I do look forward to people giving their seeds away– and look forward to the most inspiring content on the site rising to the top. :)  Good job– and don't take any of that banter too personally. ;)

Good post, dude. I'm sorry for all the shit you've had to endure over this. Nothing worse than having lots of people diss your baby.

It all worried me a bit, to be honest, but my attitude has been sort of “wait and see”… and in the meantime, I'm still having fun with my friends here, and spreading them Big Love seeds around.

However it works out, thanks very much for your hard work on all this.

“All shall be well. All shall be well. And all manner of thing shall be well.” – Julian of Norwich

Jake, I just want you to know that I admire and love you too! You are amazing. I am so inspired by your hard work and your brilliance. You are so compassionate and kind, you have shown that time and time again, and you have given so much to this community.

Thank you for being here and all you do. I hope that everyone here can appreciate your efforts and all you have done to make this site possible. You have been instrumental. I admire your candor in this blog and your non-attachment to the system (which I happen to think is great) you worked so hard to create. I know something good will come of this and that we will learn a great deal.

Thank you.

Hang in there… we still love you!  I've spread my seeds, given to those in need, hoarded my seeds and spread them some more.  It will all settle down in time.  Sometimes change is painful because it is human nature to fear change.  Keep your chin up and don't get discouraged!

Thank you Jake for posting your heart-felt response to the last few days. I am reminded of the difficulty we have sometimes in separating the outcome of our intent from our intention. I read about the “seed system” with curiousity and liked the idea of finding a way to enhance our communication. However, I am relatively new to zaadz and have little invested in “the world as we have know it” and I compassinately listening/reading the responses from other community members.

What would happen if we all took a step back, breathed and said “How  interesting! What has been intended seems to be experienced in a different way.” and then went on to say “With full integrity - lets move forward, observe and determine the next step” - and we only need to determine the next step in our change process… because with each step we take in our commitment to change the world — is still a step in the right direction. With loving respect to you Jake and the zaadz team. Hang in there. I believe that together we can do anything! Terrill

I love your post Terrill. It advocates that Beginner's Mind. I think it's a great strategy.

Hi Jake,
Thank you for opening up and sharing your heartfelt disenchantment with us.  I for one think that the seeds are an interesting idea and have started sharing my seeds.  I enjoyed spreading love around and planting seeds, which is a part of what Zaadz is all about, it is why I'm here.  I LOVE ZAADZ!!!!!!!  I think that there is a quiet majority that is already spreading seeds, and I agree with other posts that the loudest opposers to the seed program are the ones that have personal issues with the potential of not receiving seeds or in some way being judged.  When I read the description that was thoughtfully written and throughly explained, I thought “what a neat idea” and started thinking about ways of sharing and collecting seeds.  I think it is a great way to get people to be a little more active on the site.  While I think that it might have been helpful to get the Ambassadors involved before launching the program, we all know that hindsight is 20/20.  Even though there seems to be quite a bit of unrest regarding this, I think that this storm will pass and your “baby” will fare just fine and even start thriving wonderfully.  Try not to take people's rants too personally and look for the constructive messages.

Everyone keep planting seeds of love.
Bright Blessings ~Paula

Jake,

I feel for you buddy.

~Duff

Jake, you are one of the most compassionate people I know.  I love you.  Your code is genius.  There's absolutely no way I can show you my gratitude for everything you do for this community.  But as I have posted on my profile, it was you who said, ”We're not just building tools for people, we're building them for incredible, amazing, wonderful people!!!”

I am saddened that many of those incredible, amazing, wonderful people didn't understand the Heart that wrote the TR system.  I hope they will learn more about you and some of your unbelievable code!  And I also hope more people will take the time to understand new systems before jumping to conclusions.  I love this community.  And I also felt hurt by many of the reactions.

Jake!  I love you, too!!  I think you have created a wonderful tool here and I am eager to see how it grows!  It is amazing how many of us on the team do put our hearts out there to the entire community without them knowing fully what it means to hear this feedback.  And especially people like you… the “behind-the-scenes” wizards who make this all possible… SO much love has been put into each 1 and 0 … I feel it everyday and am eternally grateful to you for all that you've done to make this experience enjoyable!  Please keep your head up… you have done nothing wrong!  And I'll say it again…. I love you, too!

Jake and those other dear folks on the Zaadz team,
I am sorry you are hurt and discouraged.  I hope you can find my little comments in that blizzard of reactions.  I am sure the method of presenting your hard, well-intentioned work allowed little kindness towards you at all.  For that I am sorry.  Yet, those of us who truly care about the well-being of the community also are folks who often think very deeply and carefully.  Hard, painful lessons sometimes can prepare the soil of creativity and giving for even greater good, more beautiful flowering and growth. 

I am thankful the negative reaction possibility was removed so quickly.  That was my first objection for reasons I stated originally in my comments to Siona.  I understand your reasons but had to question your method for those kinds of opportunities. 

Please try to understand that true compassion does not accept without question.  Often, those who are most compassionate see most clearly and will endeavor to speak gently what they see and hope for.  It's tough to take, I know.  Please don't give up. 

I am in the unique and privileged position of seeing Jake as he is “behind the scenes.”  We met on Zaadz a year and a half ago when I was still in Japan.  When I came back to the States, he was the number one person on my To See list.  His authenticity, big-heartedness and caring is only amplified when you meet him in person.  I read his blog and follow his progress on Zaadz and I know that each and every line of code he writes is written with love.  When the personal attacks began, I wondered how he would hold up.  He's done great.  He's responded in a way that I think most of us can learn something from.

Just this week someone close to me reminded me about my own practice with NVC (Nonviolent Communication) that I started in Boulder last year.  I'm a pretty fierce Leo, a “judger” in the Myer's Briggs test and am known all over the globe for speaking my mind.  What I'm working on right now (not just through NVC, but through mindful speaking practice and simply bringing awareness to my interactions) is speaking my mind in a way that's both truthful and gentle.  What I've read in the forums about the trust system (and much of it, whether indirectly or no, has been directed at Jake, the chief technologist behind the architecture of the system, without which there would be no system) has lacked a fundamental desire to connect with others from the heart.

If there's anything I've taken out of my interactions with Jake in nearly two years, it's this:  communicating from the heart is crucial to building trust.  In order to learn trust, we must continue the dialog, certainly.  Keeping in mind that communicating from the heart and with heart means learning to communicate in a skillful way.  May we all continue the work of being skillful communicators. 

And please remember, every time you access a page on Zaadz you turn the wheel of compassion.

Jake wrote: 

I wrote the accursed “Trust system” that's the topic of so much debate on the site. 
So I'm taking it all pretty personally.

Jake:

In all situations like this one there is a gift for us if we look for it.  I am so sorry for the behavior and attacks you have experienced; I understand how our egos can take that sort of stuff as fodder for continuing to beat ourselves up. 

However, perhaps the gift in the situation is to realize that the behavior of others is their behavior to own.  It comes from their own anger, fear, desperation, worry and insecurity.  Do you know who you are?  Do the words they write to you out of their own egos resonate with you and mesh with what you know about yourself?  Why is it that we tend to respect the opinions of others over what we know to be true about ourselves and our intentions?

Honestly, I don't know how I feel about the seed system.  As a teacher, I see it as an extrinsic reward system like gold stars or sticker charts, and I know I don't like the results of those sorts of systems.  I've learned to trust my gut, and when I read about the seed system, but gut turned all queasy.

But:  I do know that you and the rest of the Zaadz team have done this with the best of intentions, that there is no malice or subversive action on your part, and that I certainly don't have all the answers.  I'm willing to try it and see what happens and provide my honest feedback on the SYSTEM and not its creators.

Remember who you are at your core, and set aside those opinions and attacks that don't jive with what you know to be true.

Ellen

Jake, what you built was amazing…

What you built helps bring democracy and a level playing field to Zaadz…. in the long run it well help bring out the good.

Those that call you a fascist…need to look deeply in the mirror, and guard the glass house they live in… some of the comments have simply amazed me… references to Hitler? please….give me a break!

A fascist would not engage and encourage discussion as you have… Hitler would not engage in discussion… he would merely “lineup and executeR