[Foundation-l] Where we are headed

[Gavin Chait]

Now I'm the one that's amused.

Before anyone goes jumping to conclusions: I am not throwing my hat in the 
COO ring, interim or not.  Believe it or not, I hadn't thought about it. 
But thanks for the vote of confidence ;)

As with any other submission made here, my suggestions are to take as you 
choose.  I mention my background simply to give a context to where my ideas 
come from.  I don't know anyone here directly, any more than any of you know 
me.

The discussion is familiar from the development sector here.  Ours is large, 
diverse and vibrant (estimated at 8% of the economy and the largest 
employer).  And in a state of major confusion at present because of the way 
that donors have changed and the old supply-side system of development is in 
the process of being shoved aside.  Many organisations here are trying to 
figure out how to adapt, while keeping hosts of volunteers happy and 
involved.  Sometimes that sort of thing can go terribly wrong.

Non-profit organisations can be divided loosely into two major areas: 
reaction and proaction.  Reactionary stuff is relatively straightforward - 
floods, wars, famines, medical emergencies and so on.  Pro-action is more 
difficult.  It relies on predicting the future and what we think may be 
best.  It's a guess, and hopefully an educated one.  I've never worked on 
the reactionary side and so spend my time "guessing" at the best way to 
achieve what has already been achieved in more developed nations.  It isn't 
easy and everyone has a different idea, not only of the future, but also of 
the path to get there.

Anthony you have interpreted me well:  "... that the Wikimedia board has no 
clue how best to organize itself so as to accomplish that mission ..."  That 
is what I understand and it seems an awfully large responsibility to dump 
onto the shoulders of your new COO.

Surely you should agree on some basics first and declare them unequivocally? 
Then give your COO time and space to figure it out without having to answer 
"are we there yet?" questions every few minutes.  It would be best to agree 
on these things before you even start recruiting so that anyone applying 
knows what they're letting themselves in for.