Inherent in this whole thing is the belief that Wikipedia is getting worse. Is it? Really? I have my doubts. Wikipedia is getting bigger, and thus the absolute NUMBER of problems increases, but I am yet to be convinced that the project as a whole is any more problematic than it ever was.
What IS a problem is that the project is simply so big that it is hard for everyone to work together as one community. Thus, I do like the suggestion that we encourage more of a sense of community and responsibility in smaller, more manageable areas - sensibly, organized around subject areas of common interest.
This may also help with the issue that many new contributors feel lost, alone and confused on Wikipedia, because the project as a whole is hard to feel at home in.
I'm not so sure we need /process/ in the sense of bureaucracy- Wikipedia is if anything way too good at growing confusing bureaucracy already - as much as /support/ for specialised groups to form and work together at improving Wikipedia's quality. Automation and frameworks for doing things more efficiently might indeed help, though.
I also agree that all articles should be categorized - though that's not enough, unless we have some idea where it fits into the project, the right people will not find it and fix it.
More thoughts as they come.
-Matt