I work as the attorney for a not-for-profit organization, at least as the attorney for the board.
It seems all the dysfunction I saw working with the College Republicans, the Stony Brook Statesman newspaper, the synagogue, and those law firms was the perfect training.
The problem with those organizations centered around dysfunction, mainly because of a lack of communication. The chosen few, the handful of people in charge, believed they could make uniform decisions without anyone else’s input. That’s a mistake. Just because you have the power to do something, doesn’t mean you should. Building consensus among stakeholders, as to decisions you’re pondering will go over better than if you decide things on your own. Many of the lines in the sand that have created discord were done by people who failed to build any form of consensus.
