Reno of the Turks (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
raspberryturk) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2014-05-21 08:57 am
raspberryturk) wrote in fandomhigh2014-05-21 08:57 am
Entry tags:
The Day After Doomsday, Wednesday, Period 4
"Oookay." Reno was not starting with a chipper, 'hey, Rookies!' today. Reno had a lot of work to do with these ones, so the group was actually meeting in the classroom today, no fancy Danger Shop setup for them. "So last week, I threw you guys completely blind at a survival scenario, mostly to see what would happen. And then I went home and I spent the night drinking, holy shit."
Was Reno not supposed to share that? Reno was going to share that anyway.
"I'm not saying you were all gonna die. I'm just saying there was no chance in hell most of you were going to survive, at that rate. We had one person running around telling everyone what they figured was the best plan, we had all of them disagreeing with that and coming up with plans of their own. We had my fricking TA arguing with anyone he talked to. We had people sitting around resigned to die and we had people who had been upsetting people because they were sitting around resigned to die then turning around and yelling at other people who were sitting the hell around, resigned to die. There were communication misfires all over the place, nobody could agree on whether they ought to stay or go, and in the hour you guys had for class, nobody got around to actually assessing the situation. Plenty of plans to survive whatever hypothetical you thought of, but if a single one of you can tell me what was out there rattling the doors, I'll give you my friggin' ferret."
Anybody? Bueller?
"I was gonna cover surviving severe climate change this week," he added, raising an eyebrow, "but I think my efforts would be put to better use teaching you guys basic teamwork, or at least how to put together some kind of decision-making process. Human history? Is completely full of decision-making and teamwork, by the way. We're a social species, we're kind of kickass like that. So this should be easy. We've got plenty of government types to pick from, even. You've got democracy - easy to do in a group this size. You can all agree or disagree by show of hands in thirty seconds or less, and there, decision made, shit's gettin' done. You can appoint someone to make the big choices, preferably somebody who's been there or done that. Doesn't have to be one person, it can be a few, just so you have a sanity check in place if person number one is about to do something stupid. I know there are a couple of you who are in this class in order to learn how to deal with shit that's already going on back home. They might be a good place to start. You already tried the group brainstorm, and I counted no less than three people who were contemplating murdering someone else in their sleep. So, trust me, unless you all get better at that one, it's probably not for you."
Reno shrugged his shoulders, sighing and leaning back against his desk. He'd kept his voice even and calm through all of that - they were rookies, it made no sense to get mad at them for making rookie mistakes - but all of the bickering that had gone on in the room last week had him a little concerned and a little disappointed, all the same.
"If you really want to do the brainstorm thing, if you're all hell-bent on presenting your ideas to the group and being heard, try picking someone to facilitate the discussion. Someone to sit in the middle of your little discussion circle to make certain that everyone has a chance to have their voice be heard. You probably want to pick a neutral party for that one, someone who can tell everyone to shut up while you all have a chance to talk, no matter how stupid you're being. Then you can all talk about the ideas that were shared with the group like grownups. You lose 'being an antagonistic ass' privileges for this idea, by the way. The facilitator also has the right to make you go sit in the goddamned corner."
Reno might have just added that bit, but he was not above pulling out the dunce cap and a chair if it really came down to it, this week.
"I'll bunch extreme climate change and a toxic environment all into one class next week, yo. Sometimes they're tied together anyway. This week, you are all going to sit your asses down and figure out how you're going to make decisions for future classes, from here on. And then, whatever you pick, we're going to stick with for the rest of the summer, unless I say otherwise. Making big choices fast is a huge part of survival. Your ability to get shit done is gonna make or break you, yo. Choosing not to be part of the group is a legitimate decision, too, but the group can reserve the right to figure out what to do about rogue aspects if your choices start to put them in danger. This is doomsday, people. You don't get to sit cozy and make easy decisions anymore."
[Open!]
Was Reno not supposed to share that? Reno was going to share that anyway.
"I'm not saying you were all gonna die. I'm just saying there was no chance in hell most of you were going to survive, at that rate. We had one person running around telling everyone what they figured was the best plan, we had all of them disagreeing with that and coming up with plans of their own. We had my fricking TA arguing with anyone he talked to. We had people sitting around resigned to die and we had people who had been upsetting people because they were sitting around resigned to die then turning around and yelling at other people who were sitting the hell around, resigned to die. There were communication misfires all over the place, nobody could agree on whether they ought to stay or go, and in the hour you guys had for class, nobody got around to actually assessing the situation. Plenty of plans to survive whatever hypothetical you thought of, but if a single one of you can tell me what was out there rattling the doors, I'll give you my friggin' ferret."
Anybody? Bueller?
"I was gonna cover surviving severe climate change this week," he added, raising an eyebrow, "but I think my efforts would be put to better use teaching you guys basic teamwork, or at least how to put together some kind of decision-making process. Human history? Is completely full of decision-making and teamwork, by the way. We're a social species, we're kind of kickass like that. So this should be easy. We've got plenty of government types to pick from, even. You've got democracy - easy to do in a group this size. You can all agree or disagree by show of hands in thirty seconds or less, and there, decision made, shit's gettin' done. You can appoint someone to make the big choices, preferably somebody who's been there or done that. Doesn't have to be one person, it can be a few, just so you have a sanity check in place if person number one is about to do something stupid. I know there are a couple of you who are in this class in order to learn how to deal with shit that's already going on back home. They might be a good place to start. You already tried the group brainstorm, and I counted no less than three people who were contemplating murdering someone else in their sleep. So, trust me, unless you all get better at that one, it's probably not for you."
Reno shrugged his shoulders, sighing and leaning back against his desk. He'd kept his voice even and calm through all of that - they were rookies, it made no sense to get mad at them for making rookie mistakes - but all of the bickering that had gone on in the room last week had him a little concerned and a little disappointed, all the same.
"If you really want to do the brainstorm thing, if you're all hell-bent on presenting your ideas to the group and being heard, try picking someone to facilitate the discussion. Someone to sit in the middle of your little discussion circle to make certain that everyone has a chance to have their voice be heard. You probably want to pick a neutral party for that one, someone who can tell everyone to shut up while you all have a chance to talk, no matter how stupid you're being. Then you can all talk about the ideas that were shared with the group like grownups. You lose 'being an antagonistic ass' privileges for this idea, by the way. The facilitator also has the right to make you go sit in the goddamned corner."
Reno might have just added that bit, but he was not above pulling out the dunce cap and a chair if it really came down to it, this week.
"I'll bunch extreme climate change and a toxic environment all into one class next week, yo. Sometimes they're tied together anyway. This week, you are all going to sit your asses down and figure out how you're going to make decisions for future classes, from here on. And then, whatever you pick, we're going to stick with for the rest of the summer, unless I say otherwise. Making big choices fast is a huge part of survival. Your ability to get shit done is gonna make or break you, yo. Choosing not to be part of the group is a legitimate decision, too, but the group can reserve the right to figure out what to do about rogue aspects if your choices start to put them in danger. This is doomsday, people. You don't get to sit cozy and make easy decisions anymore."
[Open!]