[Wikimedia-l] About the concentration of resources in SF (it was: "Communication plans for community engagement"

[Nathan]

David, do you have experience managing a fully distributed
organization with offices and staff concentrations spread around the
world? If so, can you outline how you resolved the various challenges
(HR, coordination between teams and managers, effective oversight and
mission management, insurance and liability, language barriers, etc.)
such that you realized a major benefits in proportion with the costs
and headaches?

While the WMF may not have an easy time of hiring developers, I
haven't heard that many engineering slots are going unfilled because
of a complete inability to recruit. So while you are addressing the
challenges associated with your proposed model, could you outline the
specific benefits you think would accrue? Would engineering outcomes
be better with eng and product teams spread out around the world, in
different timezones and speaking different languages? Would the cost
of talent be drastically lower, and allow the WMF to hire many more
engineers and thus significantly increase the pace of development? If
you think these things are true, can you explain why?

If it sounds like I'm shifting the burden of justifying such a move
back to you, I am. It seems more reasonable than expecting WMF
leadership to rebut the proposition before anyone has truly outlined
its value.