From lojbab@lojban.org Tue Aug 22 12:40:35 2000 Return-Path: Received: (qmail 6151 invoked from network); 22 Aug 2000 19:40:34 -0000 Received: from unknown (10.1.10.26) by m3.onelist.org with QMQP; 22 Aug 2000 19:40:34 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO stmpy-5.cais.net) (205.252.14.75) by mta1 with SMTP; 22 Aug 2000 19:40:33 -0000 Received: from bob (224.dynamic.cais.com [207.226.56.224]) by stmpy-5.cais.net (8.10.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id e7MJeVc17642 for ; Tue, 22 Aug 2000 15:40:31 -0400 (EDT) (envelope-from lojbab@lojban.org) Message-Id: <4.2.2.20000822153115.00b53220@127.0.0.1> X-Sender: vir1036/pop.cais.com@127.0.0.1 (Unverified) X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 4.2.2 Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2000 15:38:11 -0400 To: lojban@egroups.com Subject: Advice from a management expert Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit From: Bob LeChevalier-Logical Language Group The following appeared on the IALLIST@egroups mailing list today, showing how to apply strategic thinking to the promotion of Occidental. I am curious what the LLG community could/would come up with as vision/mission statements of the sort described, and whether this would in turn be a useful exercise for Lojban. I will take the best/consensus comments to Dr. Voss for his reaction. My main concern is that in the past I have "sold" Lojban as having a variety of purposes, not necessarily completely compatible, with the proviso that each Lojbanist should seek in Lojban whatever he wants in a language. Hopefully Lojban as a language is powerful enough to serve any purpose one would wish for in a language. LLG as an organization has explicitly tried NOT to favor some goals at the expense of others. lojbab >Message: 5 > Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 17:58:40 CDT > From: "Richard S. Voss" >Subject: Re: Competition among auxlangs > >Hi, folks! > >Charles wrote... > ><< Let's distinguish between competition as in "racing", versus competition >as in "boxing". If auxlangers ran in a 1-mile race, nobody would ever reach >the finish line. >> > >Competition is a lemonade stand. Decide for yourself for whom to make your >lemonade perfect, then make it perfect only for them. Eventually, they'll >come all the way from south Austin just to watch you make it, as long as you >let them know it's there. > ><< So the winning strategy is about 1000 times more cooperation and >compromise among auxlangers than there has been previously. >> > >No amount of cooperation among the lemonade-makers will convince the people >from south Austin to bypass all the other lemonade stands to visit yours. To >attract *most* of the people, you will indeed need 1000 times more >cooperation, but you simply do not have the resources that 1000 times more >cooperation requires. Instead, take a good look at your lemonade and the >people who drink it. Ask them, "Who are you really?" Some of them are >wandering by anyway--thank them and then keep looking. Others have come from >farther away specifically for *your* lemonade. *Those* are your people. Make >your lemonade for them alone, and tell other people *just like them* about >your fantastic product. Soon you'll find them coming from miles around, even >south Austin. > >Now, let's see if I can figure out who your target audience is. Just what >kind of lemonade are you making, anyway? > ><< Occidental is the easiest language to learn, and can be used to >communicate even with people who have never studied it. Restriction: this >requires knowing a European language. >> > >Draft of vision statement: "Occidental seeks to become the preeminent >vehicle for international communication." > >Mind you, this is rough, but I think you get the picture. If indeed >Occidental seeks one day to be the auxiliary language of choice, then this >is precisely what your vision is. This is true regardless of how you choose >to be perceived--it may be anathema to Occidentalists to talk in such terms >in everyday life. You may, in fact, believe that the way to achieve that >vision is precisely to let the enjoyment of the language itself do that work >for you. I'll assume this to be the case for now. Nevertheless, what you >specify in your mission statement is an eventual means to that end. > >The following are some initial assumptions I have about Occidental, with >which I am really not familiar. Some of this is based on what you have >already said about it. > >Occidental's strengths: Ease of acquisition; familiarity to those who are >familiar with a European language; ease of use; minimal ambiguity; >aesthetically pleasing resonance; technologically flexible structure; >fun-loving community (this last one is not a joke--if this is really the >case, then it can be an advantage). > >Occidental's weaknesses: Small community of users; necessity for some >knowledge of a European language for easy acquisition; not well known in the >world; small physical infrastructure; limited finances. > >Occidental's opportunities: Large numbers of people that have yet to be >apprised of an auxlang to facilitate international communication; large >numbers of people that currently speak a European language either as a first >or as a second language; the possibility that an auxlang could help in >machine translation; the rapid spread of the Internet as a way to offset >some of the advantage of more firmly established auxlangs; large numbers of >people that have little incentive to learn any but the easiest possible >auxlang; large numbers of people that might want a convenient recreational >language. > >Occidental's threats: Dominance of Esperanto; possible role of Lojban in >machine translation; relative strength of other alternatives. > >Perhaps you determine that emphasizing the language's "fun" side is the most >reliable way to achieve rapid early growth. This would determine at least >the central portion of your target audience. > >Draft of mission statement: "Occidental will serve as a fun tool of >international communication among people who are already familiar with a >European language and would like to converse with foreign people with >minimal effort. Occidental will accomplish this by taking advantage of its >unmatched facility of acquisition and remarkably pleasant style." > >Now, it is obvious that the mission statement cannot include everything that >*might* be a part of the language's grand strategy. Nevertheless, it can >serve to guide the activities of one specific Occidental club in the >propagation of the language. This club would focus on one target market and >gauge all of its success in those terms alone. Another club could devote its >attention to the question of technological flexibility and focus on those >people to whom this need is most critical. The rest is obvious, I think, but >each organization that is subsequently set up requires very careful thought >and the utmost seriousness in intent. > >It may be that your resources currently limit you to promoting only the most >central objective (fun) for now. If so, then you will rely on the growing >support base that results from this effort eventually to set up the next >organization, which will be dedicated to the next mission that you deem >important to the eventual approximation of the vision. > >Every amateur strategist knows SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, >opportunities, threats). This, in addition to careful crafting of the vision >and mission statements, is only the beginning. The next step is to identify >those human abilities that figure among your strengths, at which your people >are particularly adept. > >Since the language already exists, most of what is listed above is an >inherent advantage that simply requires effective promotion. You will, of >course, devote most of your promotional resources to those aspects of the >language that clearly make it stand head and shoulders above the >alternatives. All that remains (at least in my little list) is the term >"fun-loving community." This is a "core competence" as long as you can >confidently say, "Yes, we do that pretty darn well (better than the other >things we do)." It deserves constant nurturing and reinforcing. It should >pervade everything that you do to promote the language. Do Occidental >websites have a dead-serious layout? Do representatives of the Occidental >community seem to take themselves too seriously? Do the Occidentalists with >whom state and private agencies come into contact seem wooden and formal in >their manner? Of course, the answer should be the same for all of these...a >resounding No! In fact, it should be a very jovial, fun-loving No! Think >about your other core competencies (there should only be a few) and take >full advantage of them with good consistency in promotion. > >Lastly, regarding the vision statement, all those who actively work to make >Occidental a success must buy into it. It must be personified by >Occidentalists. I believe Esperantists do this quite well. They may not >always run around saying, "We're better than you," but they do behave as if >Esperanto *is* the international language. All those fun-loving >Occidentalists meeting at the beach and in cafés should have a look on their >faces that says, "Of course we speak Occidental--what else would we be >speaking?" > ><< Esperanto is the ideal -- combine the difficulty of Latin and Greek plus >Polish... >> > >Vi rekonfidigis min studi la polan lingvon, kiun mi neniom pensis este tiel >facila! :) > >Amike, > >Richard S. Voss >Professor of Management -- lojbab lojbab@lojban.org Bob LeChevalier, President, The Logical Language Group, Inc. 2904 Beau Lane, Fairfax VA 22031-1303 USA 703-385-0273 Artificial language Loglan/Lojban: http://www.lojban.org