In Aragon, we have started to adopt the idea of “Seasons”. As of now this primarily reflects the idea of the funding cycle of the ESD in AN DAO. While this is an important element I think it is somewhat limited in its thinking.
Seasons can be a much more complete vision for the overriding rhythm of Aragon. This article here captures a lot of the best thinking on this topic:
Resonant themes in the article include alignment, planning, execution and rest/reflection. Here’s why I think these are relevant to us today and why I think we should define and embrace seasons at Aragon.
Alignment
While we are making good progress we still suffer from a perception that Aragon is somehow separated. I frankly think this is only true if you say the same of other product or protocol DAOs (look at the entity structure of uniswap, the graph etc) but there’s no point whinging about it when we can simply get on and address it. Being on the exact same seasonal rhythm between teams in the AN DAO and the core development teams is one meaningful way of taking action and signalling that there is in fact only one Aragon.
Planning
While the above idea is virtuous, it’s also practical. It is nonsense to think we will drive towards common goals when teams are working on different cycles. How can we plan to work together if my planning happens in a different month to your planning? The ESD has just been funded and the core teams have not yet set quarterly goals. Aligned seasons can help with this planning and…
Execution
Shared plans create the opportunity for shared execution and more robust coordination. The skills in both the DAO and core teams are to be complementary and our ultimate value will only be realised when we are truly integrated together in execution. While seasons themselves do not necessarily create this, it seems unlikely it can be realised without them.
Rest & reflection
The last and perhaps most meaningful idea that exists around seasons is the idea of “off seasons”. DAOs avoid leveraging coercive control structures for expedience but this choice means working in DAOs can be tiring. Centralisation brings efficiency and so by its nature a DAO takes longer. We cannot expect the humans within a DAO to simply absorb this extra stress on their own. DAO contributors should be seen similarly to those other humans who work in on and off seasons - professional athletes. If we want to be at peak performance we need to create time and space for rest, reflection, and integrating the learning/training needed to improve how we we align, plan and execute for the next season.
Outline of a potential proposal:
If you generally agree with the above (or even if you don’t) I would ask you to discuss and debate this simple outline for what seasons in Aragon could look like:
- “On Season” of 3 months, followed by a 1 month “Off season”, together considered as one Season. All 4 months within the season are paid.
- Off Season is 2 weeks of rest and reflection (vacation & effectual shutdown) and 2 weeks of planning and governance (but no delivery)
- 3 seasons per year - Jan to April, May to August, Sept to December
- Planning and governance completed together between DAO and core teams starting next season
- All teams (core teams, guilds, working groups) operate to this cycle, with limited exceptions
I look forward to your feedback and how we might improve on this