Jimmy (Jimbo) Wales wrote:
Marco Krohn wrote:
One last question though: did I get it right, that during the board meeting about wikispecies, only members of the board took part in the discussion and nobody else?
Angela, Anthere and I are (along with many other people) on irc for the bulk of each day. In the case in question, we just ran into each other and started talking about it, because I felt (incorrectly, as it turns out) that consensus had been reached and it was all only waiting on us to do something. It was pretty informal.
I can't really think of anything more impossible than for Angela, Anthere, and I to only speak to each other publicly. We currently get quite a bit of work done by just chatting off and on throughout the day, informally, like "What do you think of this?" and "I will ask Anthere when she comes in" and "Did you send me that information yet?"
Also, good decision making involves being able to ask for opinions freely and confidentally, without a concern that random thoughts will be quoted all over the web as facts.
However, of course, we have had public meetings too, and will of course have many more.
I can't speak for others, but from my point of view speaking privately is fine, and having public meetings is not necessary either, but some sort of public review and requests for comments is. Rather than doing things, it'd be nice to say "we have discussed [blah], and are considering doing it", and then give a week or so for comments before _actually_ doing it. Or to solicit more feedback on less-decided things, "we've been thinking about [blah], does anyone have any opinions?" A formal meeting isn't necessary, but some of us would like most decision-making to stay within the mailing lists and meta and talk pages (with appropriate announcements so it doesn't get lost) rather than move to discussions conducted amongst a committee.
-Mark