Their Right Size

As the first groups grew, every job they needed could breed a boss, and the members had to keep the jobholders in their place. Somebody had to collect the money and bank it, so there was a treasurer; then a secretary, sometimes a chairman. Bill W. described what came with them (A.A. Comes of Age): "Absolutely necessary arrangements had to be made and people had to be appointed or elected to do the jobs. This often brought friction and power-driving". A power-driver is someone pushing to be in charge. Then: "Means had to be found to keep friction-makers and power-drivers down to their right size." What worked, he wrote, was a service committee, a good deal of pressure from the members, and much love and understanding. Nobody was made boss to fix the bosses. The group handled them itself, and the jobs stayed jobs. The Long Form later wrote down where the last word had been all along (Big Book, p. 563): "For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority—a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience." Today the drift is the same: whoever holds the bank card, the keys or the meeting list starts making the decisions. Test it tonight: ask whether each job in your group still answers to the members, and when the members last said so.