[Foundation-l] Expert board members - a suggestion

[Delirium]

Thomas Dalton wrote:
>> Anthony's not exactly being fair, though, when he sort of suggests that the
>> shortfall in Technology spending went instead to the Executive Director.  As
>> far as I can tell, it went into the bank, to be spent in the FOLLOWING YEARS
>> on the Executive Director's need to expand staff to unprecedented levels.
> 
> I think most of the tech underspend was due to spending being
> deferred. That money will still be spent on tech. Are you objecting to
> WMF expansion? I think the fact that the WMF can sustain a larger
> staff is a good thing, it will allow them to do much more.

I'd personally place myself on the "objecting to WMF expansion" side, at 
least in general sentiment. With larger organizations, you can indeed do 
more, but also run more risks. In particular, organizations with large 
staffs run the risk of bureaucratization; and community/volunteer-based 
organizations with large staffs risk capture of the overall project by 
the official organization, rather than the community and volunteers they 
ostensibly act as support staff for.

It's not inevitable the outcomes will be bad, but it's worth thinking 
about, I think, especially as the track record of traditional non-profit 
organizations overall is quite poor in that department.

-Mark