ArbitrumDAO strategic “Off-site” (online) updated proposal
Non-Constitutional
Context
This proposal is a continuation of the directional proposal for an offsite which was voted in favour with 130mn ARB in Snapshot: ArbitrumDAO Off-site - Directional proposal 8
And a following proposal where an Online format came on top Snapshot
The proposal has been streamlined based on feedback and is designed to be independent but compatible with related initiatives such as Alex’s work on coordination and emergent conversations with Disruption Joe, etc. The proposal also stays clear of areas where Entropy is already working and builds upon previous work (e.g. mission and values draft).
There were concerns about potential overlap with GovHack and we have aligned this initiative so both could be complimentary. However, the HackHumanity team has announced they won’t be organising an event for Devcon.
Abstract
This proposal aims to enhance the alignment, communication, and collaboration among token holders (including delegates). The DAO currently struggles with achieving cohesive strategies due to sporadic interactions and a lack of direct engagement among key participants. To address this, a structured process will be organized in October (before DevCon), focusing on strategic alignment sessions.
This proposal includes:
- Stakeholder management (preparation and follow-up): delegates and key stakeholders outreach and sense-making process to scope and prepare the most important agenda items to be discussed during two online workshops (building upon the survey and analysis already carried out). And post-workshops follow-up on key action items, including snapshot vote to ratify decisions.
- Facilitation: design and execution of a strategic process to advance alignment, convergence, and prioritization, ensuring clear next steps.
- Coordination: with Entropy to build on top of the work on mission, vision, and values; and with with additional emergent initiatives (e.g. Joe and Disruption Joe proposal in the works and potential future proposals by HackHumanity and others).
The key deliverable is an online strategy process to define a shortlist of priorities for the DAO over the next 6 months. These priorities (if ratified) can then feed into GovHack as a “proposal accelerator” to turn the priorities into initiatives. (note that we have coordinated this and GovHack’s proposals to be both complementary and independent, allowing the proposals to function together or in isolation).
The success of this initiative will be measured quantitatively by the NPS given by participants, and qualitatively by the outcomes and outputs from the sessions. The key outcome is a ratified decision on priorities via Snapshot vote.
The Problem
The DAO encounters multiple challenges, but a critical issue is the lack of effective communication and alignment among delegates and key stakeholders. There are many calls, but attendance is not concentrated and the calls are designed for context sharing and informal discussion, not designed for a strategic process. This results in a gap in aigment and clear and explicit strategy, causing slow decision-making.
Areas such as organizational design and strategic planning require not only well-crafted proposals but also thorough stakeholder engagement. Beyond what can be achieved in an event, these areas require multiple steps of aligment on frameworks and approaches, sense-making, structured deliberation, and ratifying decisions.
Proposed Solution
Output:
Draft of DAO priorities for the next 6 months that’s put to a Snapshot vote.
Outcome:
The priorities provide alignment and enable the whole community to rally around key priorities, unblocking the DAO.
The proposal includes:
*The exact format will be refined during phase 1 in coordination with other initiatives and delegates.
- Agenda prioritisation (pre-event alignment) and sense-making.
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Project manager to engage with token holders, delegates, and key stakeholders, distilling concerns and topic suggestions, and facilitating converging on the exact agenda and framework.
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Careful planning of each session: aiming to share and agree on frameworks and approaches in advance, focusing IRL discussion on content and not format. This is a continuation of the work started in December with the pre-proposal for a strategy framework.
- Strategy Sprint: 2 week process combining live and asynchronous components to integrate broad community input and feedback, deep dives by representative stakeholders, and converging towards a clear list.
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Onboarding participants into the framework and using a collective intelligence tool to generate and organise an initial list of priorities. (asynchronous, 1h)
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Online workshops to review the initial list, carry a root cause analysis, and argue pros/cons of different priorities. (live, half day)
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Sharing publicly for community feedback (forum) and our team synthesising feedback.
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second survey (usign the collective intelligence tool) to collect, cluster, and prioritise a refined list of priorities. (asynchronous, 2x 1h)
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second workshop to refine the definition of the priorities. (live, half day)
- Post workshops follow up
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Sharing a summary of the discussion & agreed action points.
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Final collection of feedback and synthesis.
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Snapshot vote to ratify the results of the workshops.
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Follow up with participants a month after to track progress on action items and liaison with Entropy, Foundation, and other parties to suggest next steps as appropriate (e.g. aligment with HackHumanity if GovHack is approved).
Timeline*:
*: tentative timeline to be adjusted during the planning phase in coordination with the different stakeholders.
- First two weeks of October: planning
- Last week of October: hosting 1st workshop
- Throughout November: async coordination period
- Late November to early December: second workshop and snapshot proposal.
What Does Success Look Like?
- Alignment on DAO priorities for the next 6 months.
- Engagement from top delegates and key stakeholders.
- Clarity provided to the broader communtiy enabling them to rally around priorities.
- Positive feedback and a strong desire to continue similar initiatives.
KPIs:
- Snapshot proposal: post-workshop to ratify results.
- 50%+ participation rate among engaged (35%+ on-chain voting rate 2) Top50 delegates, foundation, off-chain labs, and additional nominated participants.
- NPS of 50 or more (-100 to 100 range, 0 considered average)
- A similar initiative is organised again.
Attendees
Focused on high-context, expert, and senior participants. I.e. not an onboarding event. For rationale see the discussion here.
- Open to Top-50 delegates, off-chain labs, foundation members, and top 100 ARB token holders (both in Arbitrum One and Ethereum).
- Additional attendees based on at least 20 million ARB endorsements (holders/delegates can endorse as many participants as desired).
Budget
Fund sent to Multisig Signing Service.
50% in advance, 50% upon completion.
30% volatility buffer added in case of the ARB price falling. Any unspent buffer will be returned to the DAO. Arb price calculated based on date of posting on Tally.
Total cost: $14,900
Total in ARB including volatility buffer: 30,266 ARB
Detailed breakdown
Additional 5k ARB bonus if snapshot proposal with priorities (proposal to ratify conclusion of the workshops) is approved (non-constitutional quorum met and 65%+ support from voters).
Maximum possible total in ARB: 35,266 ARB
Additional Notes
Facilitation
The opportunity cost of this process is easily 10x its budget, given the limited time availability of delegates and few occasions a year when they converge. As such, good facilitation makes a critical difference in ensuring the process is effective. The facilitation includes designing the workshops and moderating the conversation, AND engaging with the broader community to gather input and synthethise it.
Agenda
We’ve already started the process of setting the agenda. We ran a survey, answered by 29 delegates with 86mn+ ARB represented. And then ran SimScore (a collective intelligence algorithm) to cluster responses and identify the key topics. The results are presented below to encourage further discussion.
Pre-selection of topics in ranked order:
- Defining strategic priorities for the DAO
- DAO Budget (how much should the DAO be spending)
- Org Design
- ARB token utility
- Conflict Of Interest
- Grant programs (RPGF, what should be the focus, outcomes, etc.)