Leaders, NOT monkeys
Posted on: April 19, 2007Pardon I haven't blogged more this week — in addition to my other workstuffs, I've been doing my rotation as "ComMonkey", short for "Communication Monkey", short for "a member of the Community Team @ Linden Lab responsible for Resident-facing communications for grid issues and other important announcements to be made". This, which happens on a weekly rotation, includes me blogging multiple times like this and that. Should emergencies happen, and they did last nite and today, I get paged so I can spring out of bed, get inworld ASAP, and start posting after a problem's confirmed and hasn't ceased. (Sometimes we have transient issues that pass within minutes.)
That's not my issue. I'm rabid about communication.
But I think "monkey" in this context is an ugly, denigrating term. We also have a "GridMonkey" and "OpsMonkey", which doesn't sound any healthier. I'm familiar with the etymology of "code monkey", and I can't see what's to like. It, frankly, makes us sound stupid, and can be taken the wrong way. I know it's intended humorously, but when there are serious issues like inventory loss, it's not funny to think that a monkey can do your work, nor is it accurate.
Day after day, I have wonderful experiences with my coworkers, who are sheerly brilliant and passionate. I love my job and don't like seeing anyone bashed. The usage of the word "monkey" opens itself up to jokes from those who understand and mean well, but also cruel verbal scathing. After some of the strenous back-and-forth discussions I've seen on how to approach a problem, the only kinda monkeys that would even inch towards comprehending such complex designs would be Dr. Zaius' spawn. And even then, we're a lot less hairy.
My wife suggests "ComLeader", "GridLeader", and "OpsLeader" as replacements. I like these more, because it stands for responsibility (instead of Homer-Simpsonesque oafishness), taking ownership of a situation, and proceeding with care for our community. It's respectful, and likely to be misinterpreted by those unfamiliar with why the heck someone working their ass off in the middle of the night and using their resourceful talents to make Second Life better is dubbed a mere simian.
These "Monkey" terms aren't formal titles, no, and I hope they never are. As we continue to evolve, we're in the midst of transitions which will change the role and purpose of our "Monkeys". Who knows, it may even change the name.
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April 19th, 2007 at 10:10 PM PDT
I'm considering applying for a job at Linden Lab (okay, more than considering… looking at liaison and concierge tech support) and I can understand how a term like that, even used humorously, can be degrading or even offensive.
The suggestion of "leader" is definitely more respectful, but implies that they're, well, leading. Perhaps "manager" conveys authority without implying subordinates… I'm not sure.
April 19th, 2007 at 10:49 PM PDT
How about "Lord," as in "ComLord," "GridLord," "OpsLord," etc.? It carries the connotation of authority, but still bearing fealty to the King (Philip)…
And a lord is higher than a monkey.
April 20th, 2007 at 5:30 AM PDT
I like "Guru" myself… it implies knowledge, wisdom and a sense of mastery of what's going on, without sounding too haughty or too much like an overly-PC term: in other words, it's a hard word to poke fun at.
April 20th, 2007 at 7:00 AM PDT
How about this, you get to call it whatever. "Hey, Blue, I'm working ComManager tonight, what you up to?" "Oh, well, I'm doing a little bit of OpsLording…" Just, call it whatever. Idk about your relationship with blue, but, hes the only other Linden I know, from the Teen Grid, so.
Just, call it whatever, I think.
April 20th, 2007 at 10:34 AM PDT
'Monkey', even when etymology understood and knowing it's meant as a joke, also is a lot less personal than something like Leader. When I didn't know what it meant yet, I thought the infamous GridMonkeys were simply bots. So if people confuse Monkeys with bots, your hard work is not appreciated.
April 20th, 2007 at 2:06 PM PDT
I can't tell you well enough how much I've appreciated the surge in communication on the Linden blog. It's not just that it's nice to know what's going on… it's just great to see that the other party is willing to keep us updated like that.
Ah, yes, and I've been really appreciated your mp3's lately, too, when I'm tired but still have things to finish (:
April 20th, 2007 at 5:31 PM PDT
Being a monkey is not a bad thing. Just google for 'security monkey' and you'll meet another famous one.
PS. When will you joing mybloglog? And when will the official LS blog have it's community there? SL blog is wp, thus it's very easy to implement.
April 20th, 2007 at 11:01 PM PDT
inventory loss is a serious issue but when you dont ever get the missing items and folders back its like Monkeys are doing the work
sorry but lindens will always be monkeys in my eyes in a humorously sort of way:)
-LW
April 21st, 2007 at 9:14 AM PDT
Monkeys are curious, intelligent, increadibly social and skilled problem solvers and of course problem creators. I have been a code monkey, flash monkey and graphics monkey and I proud to be equated to such a creature.
April 22nd, 2007 at 11:04 AM PDT
@Heiko: Part of that "problem creators" is monkeys also fling feces… so… unsanitary (and admittedly a hard image to get out of my head after learning on National Geographic). :O
@Lightwave: I hate inventory loss. I dream of a future with easier backups, where we can look back and gawk at how primitive things once were. But to get there, we have to invent the future
@vint: I have no idea what mybloglog is or what it's good for… yet. Compel me please!
@Day: Oh thanks a lot, part of the trick is sharing enough to keep updated, but not so much that it becomes an infoglut sea of text. Glad you dig the tunes too.
@Daedalus: Yeah for me, it kinda goes with, well, insulting Steve Ballmer by calling him a "monkey boy". Certain animals have connotation, even "ComHorse" would be better, proven thoroughbred… or something. You have a point!
@Zack: Haha that sounds like something outta Dr. Who, titles like that.
@Apollo: Oh I really, really like "guru".
@Erbo: Haha, "I FOR ONE WELCOME OUR NEW GRIDLORDS!"
@DarkLight: Related, there's a story why some of us folks on Community Team are "Community Developers", not "Managers" — I think it has to do with how LL is special and not hierarchical in a way which would need "managers". At the same time, I think of all those motivational courses, and how they talk about being a leader more than a manager in times of crisis, so it seemed appropriate.
April 23rd, 2007 at 1:56 AM PDT
This being a post about thy work for the Linden Labs, dear Torley, I hope I am not offending anyone by asking for help with a problem I've been having for a week now: since past Tuesday, I haven’t been able to do anything inworld.
After I log in, the bandwidth drops to zero, the packet loss goes up the roof and then both drop to zero. I can not move, only turn around on the spot. When I manage to TP to another location, the same often happens there. Funny enough though, it doesn't happen when I connect to a server that is not located in California.
SL runs on an AMD 3200+ machine with 1 gig of RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 6600LE video card onboard (updated the drivers). The download speed of my connection is 5438 kbps, my upload speed 777 kbps (I just tested it at http://www.speedtest.nl).
Seems like I just can’t seem to connect to the old servers. I live in the Netherlands and my ISP is called 'xs4all' - it seems they are the only ISP with this problem. I did mail them about it, and mailed the LL support people, but I have not heard anything.
So I was thinking, maybe you could ask around over there? Thanks in advance.
April 23rd, 2007 at 9:57 AM PDT
I've always preferred descriptive names. The Voice or Speaker, the Grid Caretaker, you get the idea.
April 24th, 2007 at 2:09 PM PDT
Torley,
The title __ Monkey is generally a self-applied deliberate denigration of your own position. I use it that way all the time, both to explain to people that my job is not a professional rank and to dodge the responsibility that professionals assume. I'm "just" a CAD Monkey - i.e. I'm not a licensed architect. Ignore the denigrating connotations of being in a lower-educated, lower-white-collar job and the term "Monkey" ceases to have meaning. Calling it "Leader" or "Lord" wouldn't work either because then people would be REALLY pissed at Grid Monkeys demonstrating their incompetence or lack of overall responsibility.
April 25th, 2007 at 1:52 PM PDT
I personally LIKE the -monkey terms. I feel that they convey a sense of being "all over it," i.e., like a kid on the monkey bars in the schoolyard. All over it, and getting it done.
April 25th, 2007 at 2:10 PM PDT
"CommMonkey" rolls off the tongue quite well, unfortunately.
I *greatly* enjoy the weeks when you're on blog duty because problem notices actually GET POSTED. As opposed to other weeks, when we get a blue notice in-world "…check the blog for details…" and the blog doesn't GET updated for at least an hour - and occasionally not until the next day.
April 29th, 2007 at 9:39 AM PDT
@Hexx: Sorry, I can't do support on my personal blog, but I do know about the frustrating XS4ALL probs, search the Issue Tracker.
@Storm: I like "chorus".
@Ananda: I think there's too much self-denigration and lack of responsibility in the world.
@Glen: That's playful, but again, I can't explain away the feces-flinging. :\
@Alexandra: Thanks! I enjoy communicating; we're trying to be more consistent across the board, I happen to be very hyperactive — in the near future, we're shifting more of these communications to an Inworld Experience Team… so ComWhatever's role is changing.