Help us write Grin's Mission statement!

Governance
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One of the first things worth discussing is the purposes of a mission statement, which are two-fold:

  1. To effectively communicate to new adopters, in a succinct fashion what the project hopes to achieve.
  2. To act as a litmus test/guiding light, for decisions within the project.

To this end, it’s important for us to have a well defined mission statement, that is not only actionable, but, measurable and achievable.

We need to be able to ask questions like:

  • Does this align with our goals?
  • Is this a priority?
  • Have we advanced the mission in a tangible way?
  • Can we define that our goal is reached.

To create open electronic cash for all, without censorship or restrictions.

I think some of the challenges in the current statement include:

  • “To Create” - I don’t think this is the mission. At least from what I’ve read it doesn’t feel like the mission. Creating this crypto is a tool to achieve that mission, but, is not in and of itself a mission.

  • Cash: Cash is by definition the physical manifestation of a monetary system of wealth, also cash is technically has only partial fungibility as it is possible for me to return you the exact same $20 bill you gave me, and for them to have different values due to serial numbers, years, wear and tear etc. Since these unique properties do not exist for Grin, there is no collectable sub-component too it.

  • For all: The phrase seems a little weak and perhaps utopian. I don’t think it can drive any mission. Plus, it would be unachievable. Not even cash reaches all people. Is there a subset of people we care more about? Is there a way to express that the ecosystem is open to anyone but doesn’t need to reach everyone?

  • Without censorship: I like this mantra, but once again I’m not sure it is captured here. It’s also hard for us to measure, and something that only applies to a subset of individuals who currently feel censored.

  • Restrictions: It’s not true that there are no restrictions, there will be some technical ones. I also worry that the phrase “without censorship and restriction” has negative connotations in the mainstream.

To that end, here are two different phrases I’ve been playing around with.

Grin’s goal:

“To raise the standards of freedom through a lightweight, private, and simple medium of exchange.”

“To empower financial self-sovereignty, through a private, simple and open medium of exchange.”

We can:

  • Measure how self-sovereign people are, or how free they feel.
  • It moves away from the messaging of cash.
  • We can clearly ask questions of “does this advance our mission to improve freedom” “does it improve our mission of financial self-sovereignty” and have yes or no questions that drive product priorities.
  • The goal is not completed by the simple creation of the tool, but requires out communities long term investment in adoption, and ecosystem growth.
  • It communicates the key values of the mission, without being too political, emotional or counter-culture, allowing a wider audience reach.

I’d love to hear any feedback, or what people like/don’t like in the word choices so I can continue to propose some more ideas.

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