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Often a project, a club, or even a company only hold because of one passionate individual. Once he is gone, it is the end. It is very hard to find someone with

by GuB-42 5y ago

Often a project, a club, or even a company only hold because of one passionate individual. Once he is gone, it is the end. It is very hard to find someone with the same level of motivation. Projects stop being maintained, clubs cease activities, and companies get taken over for short term profit. It is particularly apparent in schools. Students start something, then they graduate and do something else. Most of the times, no one takes over, at least not in a sustainable way. It is not always the case, but it is the most common outcome. Simply, I think there are simply more people who want to start something than there are people who want to lead somebody else's project.

icoder 5y ago
To maintain something you will need a match between what type of person is needed and what type of person is available. To start something, any type (well, very simply put) of person will do, often the need emerges from what they initiate. This may also explain the imbalance you see. Having said that, I also think that just as often it _seems_ no one is available, until someone steps down and things do turn out allright. Of course this idea that a project will stop if the passionate individual stops is based on exactly the observation you describe! So that fuels the idea but you'll never know until you stop.
marcosdumay 5y ago
I don't know how the idea that people are replaceable got so popular. Yeah, I know why some people tried to make it so, but it's so blatantly false that I don't understand how those people were successful. Anyway, nobody ever simply gets replaced. When you change the people, things change. Some times it's a disaster, other times it's an improvement, but the result is never exactly like the beginning.
chrchang523 5y ago
There is an interesting "converse" to this observation for open-source projects, though. Namely: if a nontrivial abandoned project is still widely used, it probably represents a major career opportunity for anyone willing to take over maintenance. This isn't purely hypothetical: it's the foundation of my own career.

by GuB-42 5y ago

icoder 5y ago

To maintain something you will need a match between what type of person is needed and what type of person is available. To start something, any type (well, very simply put) of person will do, often the need emerges from what they initiate. This may also explain the imbalance you see. Having said that, I also think that just as often it _seems_ no one is available, until someone steps down and things do turn out allright. Of course this idea that a project will stop if the passionate individual stops is based on exactly the observation you describe! So that fuels the idea but you'll never know until you stop.

marcosdumay 5y ago

I don't know how the idea that people are replaceable got so popular. Yeah, I know why some people tried to make it so, but it's so blatantly false that I don't understand how those people were successful. Anyway, nobody ever simply gets replaced. When you change the people, things change. Some times it's a disaster, other times it's an improvement, but the result is never exactly like the beginning.

chrchang523 5y ago

There is an interesting "converse" to this observation for open-source projects, though. Namely: if a nontrivial abandoned project is still widely used, it probably represents a major career opportunity for anyone willing to take over maintenance. This isn't purely hypothetical: it's the foundation of my own career.