[Foundation-l] Will the Board accept the election result?

[Erik Moeller]

On 7/8/07, The Cunctator <cunctator at gmail.com> wrote:
> WMF would almost definitely be better off in the long run if it were
> more transparent about Brad and Danny's resignations.
>
> It might be embarassing, but more information is generally better for
> the long term health of a community.

Absolutely. Let me speak fully in the abstract here for a moment, i.e.
without any intended reference to past, present or future
circumstances.

When an employee leaves or is terminated without clear reasons, or
when the reasons are only given by the employee, this will often
reflect poorly on the Board and ED, and will almost certainly also
affect the community negatively. So, if Board members were acting
purely in their own self-interest (e.g. trying to get re-elected), or
in the perceived interest of the community, they should certainly tell
their side of any story.

But that is not the only factor to take into account in such a
situation. There are many others:

* What is the potential impact of the public airing of "dirty laundry"
with other non-profits, potential donors, media, and other external
observers? Compared to the "health" of the community, how will it
affect the fundraising ability and, indirectly, the sustainability of
the organization?
* Is the likely impact of disclosure going to be long term in nature,
vs. the likely impact of non-disclosure short-term in nature? If so, a
short term negative impact on the community may be preferable to a
long term negative impact on the organization.
* What is a risk of a lawsuit of the employee against WMF under such
circumstances? In such a lawsuit of staff vs. organization, the
general public view is to support the "little guy", i.e., the PR will
be reactive in nature, and long term damage to the reputation of the
organization may result.
* Is there a need of WMF to ensure the individual's continued cooperation?

And so forth. Do not get me wrong: There may be circumstances under
which the factors would weigh in favor of full disclosure of all
details surrounding a particular incident. But it's not as simple as
just deciding to speak freely about everything, even if our natural
inclination is of course to do so under almost all circumstances.
Suffice it to say that I've bitten my tongue more than once in the
past few months.

-- 
Toward Peace, Love & Progress:
Erik

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