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Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Power dynamics between people in EA, published by Julia Wise on June 1, 2022 on The Effective Altruism Forum. In any field, including EA, power differences affect how people interact. Sometimes power differences are obvious, like between a manager and their report or a grantmaker and grantee. Organizations should have policies around some things here, like on conflicts of interest within an organization. But there are a bunch of smaller power differences that subtly affect a lot of interactions. Formal policies would be too heavy-handed here, but we can all adjust how we handle these situations. I've tried to lay out some situations to be aware of, and steps that might help. This post is meant for people who have relatively more power within EA — though who that is changes with the circumstances! EA is complicated EA is both a social community and a professional field. In the words of one HR person at an EA organization about handling this dynamic, “Boy, is it complicated and strange.” For many of us who work in EA, it will be well worth it to have friendships, housemates, and/or partners within the community, not just our professional contacts. But that also introduces more complexity, and we should expect to need to tread carefully. Some factors in how people influence each other Funding Being an actual grantmaker Having grantmakers in your network who listen to you Being a major donor to an organization In organizations If you work at or are on the board of an EA organization, you can affect the outcome of other people’s interactions with the organization. This affects hiring, grantmaking, etc even if you aren’t directly involved in hiring or funding. Your impression of a colleague can matter for promotion and other decisions, even if you’re not directly managing them. Network Who you can introduce people to, who you’re friends with, etc. Gatekeeping Ability to get people in or keep them out of events, retreats, office spaces, parties, etc. Age This won’t be true of everyone, but my impression is that people under about 25 often weigh others’ opinions more heavily and have a harder time expressing clearly when they’re uncomfortable with something. History If they looked up to you when they were first getting involved in EA, you may still have a kind of influence over them even if you’re now peers in other ways. Demographics and culture Some of this is big obvious categories like race and gender, but some is subtler things like accent, sharing more background knowledge with the cool kids, etc. People from cultures with higher power distance may be more reluctant to question authority figures. How this affects things Relationships that feel equal aren’t always equal If I ask a community member for a favor, I don’t feel like I’m pulling rank or anything. But because of various advantages I have over them, their perception of the interaction will probably be slanted by those things. So maybe they’ll go along with things that are more costly for them than I intended. Possible steps: Ask fewer favors from people who might feel uncomfortable refusing. Try to make clear when things are truly optional, and provide easy ways to decline. It’s harder for junior people to give their real opinion Opinions that junior people express will often be shaped (maybe unintentionally and unknowingly) by what they perceive senior people’s opinions to be or what they think the senior people want to hear. Possible steps: Ask junior people to share thoughts before you give yours. Listen openly and show interest. Give them more time and encouragement to lay out messy thoughts. Set the stage for welcoming messy / unformed thoughts by sharing some of your own. Give encouragement and appreciation when they offer opinions and especially when they disagree with you - make it a good experience for...