Hey Andreas!
Thank you for the thoughtful feedback. For context, I am a member of the
LDWG, and a steward. We have two stews on the working group, a bunch of
admins, and a bunch of affiliate organizers – it's an experientially
diverse bunch.
I applied for the LDWG in part because I have concerns about the
efficiency of future capacity-building models. Accepting that leadership
development is a movement strategy goal and likely to be involved in future
actions related to the Movement Charter, I want it to be as effective as
possible. In more specific terms, not simply an outgrowth of the high
cost-per-new-editor edit-a-thon model which leaves unclear long-term
benefit and doesn't put sufficient effort into developing effective
community facilitators or long-term resources for editor onboarding and
mentorship.
The LDWG is not a stand-alone working group developing something no one
will read, nor is it uninterested with the concerns of local editing
communities. The plan we're working on will guide future capacity building
activities on Wikimedia projects, and a good plan will positively affect
the outcome of that capacity building.
I understand the concerns questioning the benefit of a definition of
leadership. It is a first step of sorts; it's difficult to work towards
fostering good Wikimedia leadership without defining good Wikimedia
leadership, a relatively idiosyncratic type of leadership that falls much
closer to facilitation and mentorship than actually setting goals or
"leading" in the traditional sense. From this definition, we can overview
existing capacity building activities, their effectiveness, possibilities
for improvement, and develop a plan with concrete and actionable
recommendations to ensure that donor money spent towards leadership
development is money well spent.
This is an investment in process, not an investment in navel-gazing.
I hope this has helped alleviate some of your concerns.
Best regards,
Rae
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
User:Vermont <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Vermont> on Wikimedia
projects
they/them/theirs (why pronouns matter
<https://www.mypronouns.org/what-and-why>)
On Fri, Sep 16, 2022 at 3:05 PM Andreas Kolbe <jayen466(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Ivan,
I am very sorry, but I honestly don't understand what any of this is for,
and why the WMF is spending money on defining leadership – money collected
under the pretence that money is urgently needed to keep Wikipedia online –
given that community feedback to this initiative to date seems to be
largely negative.
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Leadership_Development_Working_Group
It is not like the world lacks definitions of leadership. Aren't we
spending donors' money to reinvent the wheel here?
Could I refer back to an interesting thread Samuel Klein started a while
back, titled "Simplifying governance processes"?
https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org…
To me, at least, what Samuel and others said in that thread seemed to be
pertinent to initiatives like this one. Samuel started by saying,
"Dear Board (and all), The growing complexity of governance efforts is
defeating us. Process creep is an existential threat for projects like ours
– it is self-perpetuating if not actively curtailed, as it filters out
people who dislike excess process. There's a reason 'bureaucrats' and
'stewards' have unglamorous titles. Global governance in particular seems
to be suffering from this now. Let's try to scale it back!"
He received no reply from the WMF, at least not here on this list where
he posted.
It seems to me we are spending a great deal of money to produce words –
but not words in Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Wikisource etc., that the public
enjoys and finds valuable, but words on Meta talking about ourselves in the
best navel-gazing tradition.
Now, maybe I have this all back to front and am simply clueless ... so if
someone feels like enlightening me, please do!
Best,
Andreas
On Fri, Sep 16, 2022 at 4:33 PM Ivan Martínez <galaver(a)gmail.com> wrote:
TL;DR: The draft leadership definition[1]
prepared by the Leadership
Development Working Group is ready for community feedback! Please share
your feedback on Meta[2], the feedback form[3] or the Movement Strategy
Forum[4]. You can also directly mail us at
leadershipworkinggroup(a)wikimedia.org. The feedback will be collected
till October 6, 2022.
Hello everyone!
I hope you are aware that the Leadership Development Working Group[5]
has been working over the past few months to formulate and find ways to
nurture the leadership of our movement. The Leadership Development Working
Group (LDWG) is a group of Wikimedia volunteers representing different
communities, languages, roles, and experiences. We are pleased to inform
the community that our draft definition of leadership is now available for
community feedback. This first draft definition of leadership was written
after months of discussion, learning, and sharing from our community
perspective. The Wikimedia Movement, which is by nature diverse and
distinctive in its own way, is expressly addressed by this definition.
Please consider going through the definition and letting us know what
you think by October 6, 2022. The draft definition includes a general
definition of leadership and subcategories that elaborate on the actions,
qualities, and outcomes of good leadership.
There are many places where you can express your ideas, suggestions, and
comments, such as the meta talk page[2], the feedback form[3], and Movement
Strategy Forum Post[4]. You can also directly mail us at
leadershipworkinggroup(a)wikimedia.org.
You can check if the general definition, and the subcategories align
with your idea of leadership in the movement. You can also try finding the
gaps, maybe some qualities of a leader or anything else are missing in the
draft definition or you can check if the definition applies to all
cultural, linguistic, community or other contexts of the movement and share
your thoughts with us.
Together, let's celebrate the movement's diverse and distinctive
leadership!
Cheers!
[1] Link to the draft definition on meta
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Leadership_Development_Working_Group/Content>
[2] Link to meta talk page
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Leadership_Development_Working_Group>
[3] Link to the feedback form <https://forms.gle/o7a4FYV8ZkisJF3KA>
[4] Link to the Movement Strategy Forum post
<https://forum.movement-strategy.org/t/leadership-development-working-group/1404>
[5] Link to the meta page of LDWG
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Leadership_Development_Working_Group>
--
*Iván Martínez*
*Voluntario - Wikimedia México A.C.User:ProtoplasmaKid *
// Mis comunicaciones respecto a Wikipedia/Wikimedia pueden tener una
moratoria en su atención debido a que es un voluntariado.
// Ayuda a proteger a Wikipedia, dona ahora:
https://donate.wikimedia.org
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