[Palindrome] Our Team Philosophy

[Thomas Weisswange <aldesuda optonline net>]

This is the text of the annotated team philosophy document that I sent 
out last year.
I've looked through it and haven't felt the need to make a lot of 
changes (though you
may want to look at comment 5.  or not.  not like i can tell...).  If 
anyone
has comments, feel free to post them (did I *really* need to say that?)  
This document
was written...um...a while ago by Eric Albert, and I didn't change it, 
but simply added
some numbered comments to it.  Since our team doesn't have a leader 
(we're an
anarcho-syndiclist commune...we take it in turns to act as a 
sort-of-executive-officer-
for-the week...) this document isn't to be taken as gospel.  Your 
mileage may, as always, vary.

---Tom
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Our team has a philosophy.  To remind oldcomers and inform newcomers,
here it is.  Please feel free to send me any questions and comments.(1)

TEAM PHILOSOPHY

In four words:  We Play For Fun.

In many more words:  The MIT Mystery Hunt is a rare opportunity for a
group of people to work cooperatively while solving problems that are
intellectually challenging and (once sleep deprivation kicks in)
physically taxing.  It is exhilarating to work flat out, with few
rules and few road maps, in a friendly, supportive environment.  This
team is dedicated to that pleasure.

This team is not dedicated to winning.   (5)

For one thing, this is a completely open team.  This means that
*everyone* who wants to join us is welcome, even encouraged, to do
so, with the only condition being that they abide by the team
philosophy outlined in this message.  "Everyone" means just that:
spouses, paramours, children, pets, weak solvers, nonsolvers,
complete strangers, even members of other teams (if their team 
dissolves). (2)

Team members are strongly encouraged to cooperate and share
information extensively with each other, Even If This Slows Down
Solving.  Team members are encouraged to eat well and sleep well,
Even If This Slows Down Solving.  If there's some particularly fun
part of the hunt (a walk through a steam tunnel, say), team members
are expected to let everyone know about it and to WAIT until everyone
who wants to come along is ready, Even If This Slows Down Solving.  And 
so on.

Because there are no requirements for joining our team, there is
always a wide range of solving abilities among members.  Since we
focus on having a good time, not on winning the hunt, *all* members
are equally important and valuable to our team, and all are to be
treated with equal respect.  Team members are expected to be
friendly, or at least polite, to *everybody* on the team.  Rudeness
or condescension is completely inappropriate.  If a team member wants
to know how you're doing on a puzzle, tell them.  If they have
trouble even understanding what kind of puzzle it is, enlighten
them.  If they then want to help you solve it, let them.

Now, there are a few exceptions.  If you've spent three hours getting
your head around a tortuous logic puzzle, you're welcome to say,
"It's too complicated to easily explain."  If a problem requires
fiendishly single-minded concentration, you can think it through on
your own (though you'll probably want to go away to some quiet place
for this, anyway).  But realistically, if the thought of some
clueless newbie walking up and horning in on your solving makes your
skin crawl -- This Is Not The Team For You!
[PLEASE see notes number (3) and (4) concerning the following paragraph.]
Team members are expected to be friendly to everybody *off* the team,
too.  Under no circumstances should you do anything that would harm
another team's enjoyment of the hunt.  In particular, you may not
hack puzzles so they become unsolvable, and you may not mislead (much
less lie to) others about anything.  You are allowed (though
certainly not required) to swap answers with other teams (3) if you think
it makes sense, but if you do, you must keep your side of the bargain
in good faith and not cheat.  You are even allowed to give away
answers if you think it makes sense (for example, to a small team that 
is stuck and not having fun).  (4)

You don't have to be a goody-goody, or a pussycat, or perfect, to
solve with us.  By its very nature, our team always has a hodgepodge
of personalities, some mild, some strong, some awkward, some
smooth.  These differences are often made even more prominent by
fatigue and stress.  There are bound to be some teammates that you're
more comfortable with than others.  You are not required to like every 
person on the team.

But you do have to tolerate everybody.  If someone (or something) is
bugging you, do not lash out.  Bring Your Complaint To Me.  My
primary job as captain is to keep morale up, and I take this
responsibility very seriously.  If you are not having fun -- SEE
ME.  I will do everything in my power to make things better.(1)

I should make it clear that many members of our team enjoy
winning.  In fact, the teams I have captained have won more Mystery
Hunts than any other team.  On the other hand, we've probably lost a
few hunts we could have won with a more gung-ho philosophy. (5)

If you've read this far, you can probably guess that I don't
care.  I've talked with people on (other) winning teams over the
years.  Most didn't have half the fun that our team did.  One winning
team a bunch of years ago didn't seem to have had any fun at all.  
Imagine if they'd lost!

Our team's approach is not for everybody, of course.  Those who feel
differently are in luck: many other Mystery Hunt teams are focused on
winning, and you should be able to find one that can use an
ultracompetitive solver.  In fact, this would be an excellent time
for such a solver to unsubscribe from this mailing list and find a more 
appropriate team.

But this team is a home for people who prefer to focus on the
friendly, cooperative aspects of group solving.  I hope you'll make
this team *your* home, both this year and in the years to come.

Happy Hunting!

-- Eric

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(1)  In this case, "me" is Tom Weisswange, at aldesuda puzzlers org 
<mailto:aldesuda puzzlers org>.

(2)  There have been a few, rare, exceptions to this policy, not because 
we have anything against
anyone--our team is still open to everybody, it has simply been the case 
a couple of times in the
past that our team has gotten too large to be fair.  Though I can't 
actually remember us turning
anyone away, I know we talked about restricting the team size.  Okay, so 
we have never actually
had an exception to this policy, but we might under that one circumstance.

(3)  This statement no longer holds true.  We do not trade answers with 
other teams. 
    There was a <understatement>wee bit of controversy</understatement> 
2 years ago about this
passage, as one of the hunt organizers got on the list and read this 
particular document, and got a
<understatement>little annoyed</understatement> about it.  Of course, we 
didn't realize that
they had designed their hunt so that rounds wouldn't all be solved in 
the same order, so that could
be a major problem.  And of course they couldn't tell us that, so there 
was something of an
<grotesque understatement>argument</grotesque understatement> between 
our team and the
organizers.  They didn't understand the spirit of the statement, and we 
didn't understand their
objections.  I think it's been cleared up now.

(4)  At the risk of sticking my neck out, this statement *does* still 
hold true.  If we feel a small team
is *way* behind, with no chance of winning, and having no fun at all, 
and if we are sure that we actually
have the same puzzles they're having trouble with, I have no problem 
with giving them answers, though
I much prefer giving them hints, even clue-by-fours, that will help them 
solve.  We Play For Everyone's Fun.
Not just our own.

(5)  Winning is fun.  This is a personal note.  I have started to notice 
a growing sentiment among
the puzzlerati of our team that we would really, really like to write a 
Mystery Hunt.  There are some who,
with a certain degree of justification, could argue that this is clearly 
a sign that our team is totally insane.
Some would argue that simply wanting to DO a Mystery Hunt proves that.  
This point is not to be argued
here.  However, I agree with Eric on this one.  Though I
love the feeling of success, and yes, I actually do LIKE to write 
Mystery Hunts, there have
been 2 hunts I have been to since the (my) beginning that we have simply 
stopped working because
we were no longer having fun.  Though this is not how I'd like to end a 
Mystery Hunt, in both
cases I have agreed with the decision to stop.  We Play For Fun, Even If 
This Stops Solving :-)