Hi Maggie,
Could you answer a few things, or at least provide your (and the team's) reasoning:
1) It has now been stated multiple times it was urgent to get a policy like this. But you tell us there's a secret playbook already in play, and I can't imagine that has changed immediately just because there's now a visible policy, and with the break shortly occurring, the WMF other teams can't really decide major things with it in mind either. And it also took some time to (seemingly purely internally) write. So why is it taking so long to explain why we're having to wait until after Christmas break to discuss it? *Why is it retroactive discussion at all?*
2) The policy includes the line " use our influence with partners, the private sector, and governments to advance and uphold respect for human rights." - you say you note the tension from needing to have such a playbook be hidden to remain functional and be a collaborative community.
I don't doubt your reasoning on the playbook, but this line is in effect "the policy team will lobby for better human rights"...but without us knowing the actual execution of methods, specifically raised areas, a complete listing of ongoing areas of focus and so on. There is already a concern that the WMF spends too much time trying to speak for the movement without actually knowing that their specific positions are backed by the movement as a whole. Doing it with this dichotomy in place surely seems even less wise.
3) Back, more generally, to the process issues. I emailed shortly after this went public, at the time, some considerable time before the Christmas break. I just got a message saying they were collating questions and would answer in the new year. But most of my questions were on either "why was this procedure used" or "why was this paragraph included", rather than substantive content change proposals.
If even I know why I included any given thing in a regular old policy that I help draft and can thus answer questions rapidly, why was this not the case here. Surely the reasoning for each bit of content and failure to publicly consult are already known? So why the lag time?
Yours,
Richard (Nosebagbear)