For a while I have had a strong sensation, possibly unjustly so, of a highly over-complicated result. There are many good words, but I keep not seeing a simple, concise, intuitively understood statement. I feel we are still missing an understandable elevator pitch. If asked, I seriously doubt I would be able to explain where things are headed.
It is easy to explain in a complicated way. It is very hard to explain it simply. Or as Einstein put it, “If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.”
On Mon, Oct 2, 2017 at 4:35 PM, Guillaume Paumier gpaumier@wikimedia.org wrote:
Hello,
If you feel a strong urge to reject the text, there is obviously nothing preventing anyone from creating a Meta-Wiki page to that purpose. However, I would first ask to reflect on the process, its outcome, and where it's going.
Strategy is complicated. Building a movement strategy even more so [ https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/05/19/wikimedia-strategy-2030-discussions/ ]. One person's serious issue may be another person's slight preference. People's serious issues may be at odds with each other (and I can tell you from experience that they are indeed). Balancing all those priorities is a difficult exercise, and I certainly don't claim to have done it perfectly. But I do think the outcome we've arrived at represents the shared vision of a large part of the movement.
As I was writing, rewriting and editing the text of the direction, I did consider everything that was shared on the talk page, and the last version is indeed based on those comments, as well as those shared during multiple Wikimania sessions, individual chats, comments from the Drafting group, from affiliates, from staff, and so on.
While I did consider all of those, I didn't respond to every single comment, and there is little I can do about that except apologize and endeavor to do better. I should have set clearer expectations that not every comment would be integrated in the text. I ran into an issue all too familiar in the Wikiverse where one person had to integrate comments and feedback from a large group of people at the same time.
High-level vision and strategy integration isn't really something that can be spread across a group of people as easily as writing an encyclopedia article, and so I ended up being a bottleneck for responding to comments. I had to prioritize what I deemed were issues that were shared by a large group, and those that seemed to be more individual concerns.
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not the "everything must be positive, fantastic, yeehaw-we-are-number-one" type. If anything, I'm rather the opposite, as I think many Wikimedians are. If we had unlimited time, I'd probably continue to edit the draft for years, and I'm sure there would be other perfectionists to feed my obsession.
However, others in my personal and professional circles have helped me realize in the past few weeks that even getting to this stage of the process is remarkable. As Wikimedians, we often focus on what's wrong and needs fixing. Sometimes, our negativity bias leads us to lose focus of the accomplishments. This can clash with the typical American culture, but I think somewhere in the middle is where those respective tunnel visions widen and meet.
One thing I've learned from Ed Bland, my co-architect during this process, is that sometimes things can't be perfect. Sometimes, excellence means recognizing when something is "good enough" and getting out of the asymptotic editing and decision paralysis loop. It means accepting that a few things annoy us so that a larger group of people is excited and motivated to participate.
From everything I've heard and read in the past two months, the last version of the direction is agreeable to a large part of individuals, groups, and organizations that have been involved in the process. Not everyone agrees with everything in the document, even within the Foundation, and even me. But enough people across the movement agree with enough of the document that we can all use it as a starting point for the next phase of discussions about roles, resources, and responsibilities.
I do hope that many of you will consider endorsing the direction in a few weeks. While I won't claim to know everyone involved, I think I know you enough, Ziko and Fæ, from your work and long-time commitment in the movement, to venture that there is more in this document that you agree with than that you disagree with. I hope that the prospect of moving in a shared direction will outweigh the possible annoyances. And so I hope that we'll endorse the direction together, even if it's in our typically Wikimedian begrudging fashion.
2017-10-02 6:56 GMT-07:00 Ziko van Dijk zvandijk@gmail.com:
Hello Katherine,
This is actually sad news. In my opinion, the draft is far away from
being
a useful and appropriate document for our future.
The serious issues from the talk page are only partially addressed in the rewrite. So I contest your claim: "The version on Meta-Wiki is based on
the
feedback you offered."
You have announced that organizations and individuals are invited to endorse the draft. Will there also be a possibility to reject the draft?
I
remember the 2011 image filter referendum, when the WMF asked the
community
how important it finds the filter, but not giving the option to be
against
it. https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Image_filter_referendum/en& uselang=en <https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Image_filter_
referendum/en&uselang=en>
The drafts tries to enforce a new definition of the "community": "from editors to donors, to organizers, and beyond". I thought that "community" were people who are contributing to the wiki Wikipedia on a regular basis as volunteers.
I am very positive of having an open Wikimedia *movement*. But if in
future
more or less everybody will be *community*: that is in fact abolishing
the
community.
Kind regards, Ziko van Dijk
2017-09-30 22:28 GMT+02:00 Katherine Maher kmaher@wikimedia.org:
Hi all,
Since my update last month, we have been collecting, processing, and including your most recent input into the lastest version of the
movement
strategic direction. This version is available on Meta-Wiki.[1]
We're so close! The direction will be finalized tomorrow, October 1. Starting tomorrow, we will begin to invite individuals and groups to endorse our movement's strategic direction. I want to share my greatest thanks and appreciation for the work and contributions so many of you
have
made throughout this first phase (Phase 1) of developing a shared
strategic
direction.
In the coming weeks we will be preparing for Phase 2, which will
involve
developing specific plans for how we achieve the direction we have
built
together. I do not have many more details to share right now, but will
of
course offer an update as they become available.
*Strategic direction*. Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on
the
draft introduced at Wikimania. The version on Meta-Wiki is based on the feedback you offered.
*Endorsements*. Once the strategic direction closes tomorrow, organizations, groups, and individuals within the movement will be
invited
to endorse the direction, in a show of support for the future we are building together. We'll be sending an update next week on the process
and
timeline.
*Concluding Phase 1*. Please join me in offering thanks to the
volunteers,
staff, and contractors who came together to make this possible! As we transition into Phase 2, some of these roles will be concluded and new
ones
created in their place. We'll keep you updated.
*Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2017*. I was fortunate to join Wikimedians from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) last weekend at the sixth annual
Wikimedia
CEE Meeting[2] in Warsaw, Poland. Nicole Ebber and Kaarel Vaidla led a series of discussions on the direction, including what it means for
CEE.[3]
Thank you our hosts, Wikimedia Polska, and to all of the attendees for
such
a wonderful event!
*In other news.* I've heard from many people how much you appreciate
these
updates as a means of keeping track about what is going on. I'm talking
to
the Communications department about keeping them going once the
strategic
planning process concludes, with a focus on more general updates. Keep
the
feedback coming.
Since my last update, our planet has reminded us of its incredible and often unforgiving strength. My thoughts, and those of many within the Wikimedia Foundation, are with our Wikimedia family which have been affected by the natural disasters of recent weeks. We have been in
touch
with our affiliates in the areas impacted, and will offer any support
we
can.
Finally, as our CFO Jaime mentioned last week,[3] the Foundation is in
the
process of moving into our new office, in One Montgomery Tower. We
invite
you to visit its new page on Meta-Wiki.[4]
We are at the halfway mark of this movement strategy process, and I am incredibly proud of the work we have done together on the strategy.
Thank
you, again, to everyone for your contributions to this process. We have more work ahead but should be proud of what we have achieved already.
Ten cuidado (Spanish translation: “Be safe”),
Katherine
[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/
2017/Direction
[2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_CEE_Meeting_2017 [3] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CEE_meeting_2017_% E2%80%93_Movement_Strategy.pdf [4] https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2017- September/088654.html [5] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_headquarters
-- Katherine Maher Executive Director
*We're moving on October 1, 2017! **Our new address:*
Wikimedia Foundation 1 Montgomery Street, Suite 1600 San Francisco, CA 94104
+1 (415) 839-6885 ext. 6635 +1 (415) 712 4873 kmaher@wikimedia.org https://annual.wikimedia.org _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe
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