interesting article on low effort thinking

Now, THIS article was quite fascinating - it discusses low effort thinking, how you might recognize it in yourself and how to avoid it. For some (most?) this might explain why things happen the way they do in HOA meetings, whether it's a regular board meeting, annual meeting, special homeowner meeting, etc. Enjoy!

https://corp.smartbrief.com/original/2022/01/are-you-a-low-effort-thinker?utm_source=brief

We had a board member once, who used to drink wine during the board meetings, that was participating in a discussion on picking a new landscaper. Those who are on the board will recognize this is probably the biggest contract of the year for most associations to review. We had three options. His vote, without reading them, was to throw out the low and the high and go with the middle.

:facepalm:

[snicker, if I am understanding ND's point correctly, and I may not be]

-- What's the advice on how to communicate effectively with a low effort thinker? For the short run, I think there's no hope. For the longer run, there may be strategies that can help, at least on a mass, osmotic basis.

-- Back when I was a young adult, I thought they used to call high effort thinking, "critical thinking." But hey, new buzz phrases generally translate to more thought on a subject. I am for it.

Thank you for the interesting article!

I have always found that if I respond to homeowner complaints with a detailed, thorough explanation of the purpose and process behind association operations they are either satisfied with the response, or get tired of listening to me and drop the subject. Now I know why!

Well, I don't think you can say it's politically based because in my experience, I've seen morons on both sides.

I think there's always been an anti-intellectual strain throughout history. People don't trust the folks with "book learning" while those with "book learning" try to do whatever they can to keep the knowledge to themselves. Otherwise, people will read for themselves and realize the "smart" people are really afraid of losing control, money, etc. Today, there's so much knowledge out there and you can get two, three, or four sides (or more) to an issue. I guess that's too much for some people, so they shut down and not think at all. It's easier and if things go to shit, then you can blame the others who knew or claimed they knew.

HOAs remind me of an old Peanuts cartoon where Linus says "I love mankind - it's people I can't stand!" We forget that HOAs are made of, well, people, and there are lots of varieties therein. Some are thoughtful, generous, selfish, narcissistic, curious, narrow-minded and everything in between and so you have to find a way to manage all that. Sometimes it works and other times it's a hot mess - and that's why we come to message boards like this. I've noticed some people come to this website with questions that you can tell they know the answer to, but that's only part of what will be necessary to change things. The next step is standing up and saying something and some folks are too afraid of the possible fallout. It doesn't help that people today are meaner than a nest of rattlesnakes and will take a small thing and blow it up to something that can spin out of control.

I've always said homeownership isn't a spectator sport and part of the problems with HOAs is that people are led to believe they don't have to worry about certain things, that the association will address it, not realizing the association is them and their neighbors, as Melissa likes to say. It takes time and effort to run HOAs effectively (what THAT means depends on who you talk to) and careful thought is part of the price of the ticket. Your decisions won't always work out because life happens, but you do your best, learn from it and move on. That's scary because if you mess up big time, it may cost lots of money, time, and effort to fix. Even so, what you don't want is a simplistic, slapdash approach to serious issues concerning your house and the neighborhood it sits in.

So just shut down for two months.....LOL

My POA's Board just taped up an open, certified letter to send it back to the sender.

A member requested board financial and other records per the chapter of the Texas Property Code that requires POAs to show the requested letters to a member within 10 days of receipt of a certified letter request. The Letter came back opened but taped up with "return to sender" handwritten on it a few days after the tracking showed it was delivered to the Board.

I am not sure if that is low level or high, low-level (sounds like something a kid would do to cover something up - e.g. dog ate my homework.)