[Foundation-l] How not to manage opensource project

[Anthere]

Jimmy Wales wrote:
>>And what Jimbo says
>>"Of course the foundation governs and manages the projects."
>>--Jimbo Wales 07:54, 27 August 2006 (UTC)
> 
> 
> This omits significant context from the conversation.  (Ah, the perils 
> of trying to follow a discussion across multiple wikis, it is not your 
> fault Anthere.)

eh !
But the french page I mentionned 
(http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilisateur:Bradipus/Chat_with_Jimbo) is 
quite informative and provides copies of other discussions as well as links.
What I would like to point out rather... is the general impact of such a 
sentence. Maybe it makes sense to make it "illegal" to give quotes out 
of their context as some jurisdictions seem to do :)

> I also said, but can't find where, that I think that people are reading 
> far too much into "governs" and "manages".  I think that, read properly, 
> there is absolutely no question that the foundation governs and manages 
> the projects: as always, and this includes Anthere, and everything that 
> she has supported over the years.
> 
> Does it mean that the foundation is involved in every little decision? 
> Of course not, but that is not what "governs" and "manages" means.

I think... governing and managing have a significant different sens in 
english and french.

I take it you purchased that "fabulous" book Delphine recommanded us ? 
International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior from Nancy J. Aldler ?
If not, ask Brad, he got one examplar.
Go and read Part I, chapter 2, from pages 45 to 62 (How do cultural 
differences affect organisations ?).
Have a careful look over the part dealing with "worldwide differences in 
managerial style". There is a very interesting question: in response to 
the statement "the main reason for a hierarchical structure is that 
everybody knows who has the authority over whom". Managers from the USA 
strongly disagree and believe management is more about organising tasks 
and facilitating problem solving around those tasks. In contrast, 
managing in France is pretty much related to authority/power. It is even 
higher in countries such as Japan (I invite Brad to relate this with the 
request from Aphaia for a board approval of elections officials, as 
opposed to his own suggestion that it is not the board business).

We may use the same words (managing, governing), but these words do not 
have the same sense in my country and in yours. Saying your sense is the 
"correct" one, while our sense is the "wrong" one, would be a very wrong 
approach. The best you can do is to "realise" that when you say the 
Foundation manages the projects (with the idea of organising things and 
facilitating things), we read and understand the Foundation has the full 
authority over how the projects are run (to a wide extent, even to the 
point of details). Which we would generally agree I am sure, is incorrect.

The problem is that whilst "you" and "I" will generally agree on the 
concept, you can not expect that people will read "properly" terms which 
have different meaning and implications depending on languages.

Anthere


> --Jimbo