People aren't supporting Moon Plan

> I would normally take examples from the world of software but in
> this case I am going to use a more concrete example: Habitats for
> Humanity. My son and daughter of high school age have contributed
> hours to this organization. The result of theirs and others work
> is a house. In the same area is a house built by a contractor.
> The two houses were almost identical. Different paths, same
> result. So why is this organization wasting all of their
> volunteers time if it is ending up with the same result as the
> contractor?

A very good example. My argument wasn't with whether volunteer
efforts are inferior to profit ventures, but with the project
management of each and the more critical human resource skills
needed in the volunteer effort. With volunteers you lose many
motivating tools (career, terminiation, raise, status) and have no
develop new management skills.

Consider that there was supervision for your son and daughter at the
Habitat for Humanity House. They probably also came across people
who were dedicated to promotion and recruiting. Then there were
people involved in other specialized functions. The organization is
heirarchical and is not leaderless. Some volunteers are very
productive and others require a lot of supervision. If the project
is on a critical path, then you may become ensnared in delays while
dealing with the different productivity levels of your various
volunteers.

TangoMan