1a. Using Spirit When the System Gets Stuck

Nancy Lanphear
The food program relies on many people performing their particular roles in a timely fashion. Not having the menus turned in on time became a major obstacle to food purchasing, so Rachel, who was responsible for collecting menus came up with a scheme of giving virtual prizes for the first cook to submit their menu. The virtual awards were announced to the whole community and became something we looked forward to because of the clever and often comical nature of the virtual awards, e.g. a virtual Taj Mahal, a virtual giant pumpkin pie, the virtual world’s smallest violin. The strategy, which took place over many months, was quite effective in raising consciousness and shifting the pattern of cooks submitting their menus on time, or at least indicating when they will have their menus ready.
—Nancy