[Wikimedia-l] Patience

[Fred Bauder]

> Florence,
>
> I agree with you almost completely, but I would also note that it is also
> partially about the user's thought processes and business norms that
> determine how "fast" it is. My employer, for instance, has a wiki that's
> meant to be a collaborative resource where disparate elements from across
> the (several thousands of persons with access) organization can quickly
> iterate on a document the same way we make revisions to our wikis. In
> practice, however, we are so accustomed to a high level "waterfall style"
> process as you describe, with a primary author and several interested
> parties "clearing" the copy, it completely loses any benefit of the
> process
> and becomes no different to me than a Sharepoint site with slightly
> better
> UI.
>
> -Dan
>
> Dan Rosenthal

We have a few waterfall editors on Wikipedia too, and they are a repeated
source of trouble, as they are likely to defend strongly against
collaborative changes. Patience is a premise for dealing successfully
with any group dynamic, Napoleon and Alexander the Great not
withstanding.

Fred