[Foundation-l] Where we are headed

[Gavin Chait]

Is there any formal, consistent method to consolidate, resolve and end any 
particular discussion thread?

I am unable to see: 1) how we know how many people are participating in a 
discussion; 2) when they've all had their say; 3) at what point a moderator 
(and I'm assuming that this must be a board member at this point) is able to 
say: this was the problem, these were the suggestions, this is the 
resolution and this is how it will be implemented.

Without this every discussion is going to end leaving some  people feeling 
they didn't get to say their piece.

I propose the following:

1) Create a new, dedicated tool for the proposition and discussion of ideas 
and projects (everything is all jumbled up in this list)
2) Create a list of moderators who will be randomly assigned in strict 
rotation to any approved new thread (like a judge)
3) Anyone can propose a new major discussion
4) Every proposal must receive two votes of agreement from accredited 
members (how accredited, up to you)
5) A discussion has a week in which to resolve itself
6) Submissions must further the discussion and offer ideas for refining the 
problem, solution, or implementation
7) The moderator has the task of ensuring the discussion remains on track
8) At the end of the discussion the moderator summarises the problem, the 
suggested solutions and suggests a resolution - this is posted to this 
discussion forum
9) If the moderator feels that no resolution has taken place then the 
discussion is closed and the topic must be re-proposed
10) The proposal and solution are now up for voting
11) Voting takes place (and you'll need some form of voters roll so that you 
know how many people are voting) within a strict time-frame

Complete discussion and voting result gets archived for purview.  Clearly 
this system can only be used where you have two weeks to resolve a problem. 
Critical problems are still going to have to be assigned and solved 
unilaterally.

This proposal, which is not comprehensive (who gets the task of 
implementation?) can just as easily be subjected to the review process I 
describe.  That way we end these "I-said-You-said-Who-said-Why-said" 
discussions.