it seems the "get organized" vs. "more leftist than thou" dynamic plays out at all levels of many community bike projects. when our ed left in 2001, the 4 full time staff members stepped up to manage our organization collectively. by 2005, 3 of the 4 had left because, bottom line, they couldn't work together, and projects had dropped to the point that we'd atrophied to a single community bike shop. now, realizing that shit flows downhill and if someone's going to clean it up they should be recognized for it, we've developed a hierarchy, people have assumed managerial and coordinator roles, and we're once again getting a lot done. there are still folks who complain that there's too much structure and want to make things more egalitarian - funnily enough though, they're also the ones who rarely step up, have a hard time showing up to work their shifts and don't seem to get much done.
i love my job. its crazy and stressful some days, constantly challenging, infinitely rewarding and a hell of a lot of fun.