I am surprised by the notion that WMF middle management is in some way answerable to the Community. I would have thought that was the least productive form of engagement between the two sides. The issue is what, if anything, will happen to the tools that the contributors want and need to carry on doing their work. Wes Moran says that they will be delivered on schedule and I presume he is in a position to make that happen.
It's disturbing to read that the failure of this team is attributed by Chris Koerner to planning. But doing planning better is a lesson for management to learn, not for the Community. It so happens that I have advocated for involving the Community in the planing more, earlier and at a higher level. But I do not regard this setback as attributable to the Foundation's reluctance to do that.
"Rogol"
On Thu, Jan 26, 2017 at 10:18 AM, James Heilman jmh649@gmail.com wrote:
I guess the question is was this a request for input on what the community thinks of the Interactive Team or the strategy of the discovery team? Or was it simply a "for your information", we have decided to do X, Y, and Z. The first is much more preferable to the second, but it appears the second was what was intended. We as Wikipedians, of course, while give you our opinions on these decisions whether you request them or not :-)
Now to be clear I am not requesting an official response. I am expressing
- my support for the work that the Interactive Team was carrying out. 2)
my great appreciation to Yuri for the years he has dedicated to the WM movement. IMO him being let go is a great loss to our movement. People who both understand tech and can explain tech to the non expert are few and far between and Yuri was both. While I imagine and hope that he will continue on as a volunteer, it is easy to get distracted by working to put food on the table. Maybe another team within the WMF or within the Wikimedia movement will pick him up.
Best James
On Wed, Jan 25, 2017 at 9:52 PM, Anna Stillwell astillwell@wikimedia.org wrote:
On Wed, Jan 25, 2017 at 9:14 PM, Pete Forsyth peteforsyth@gmail.com wrote:
Anna,
I've now read what you quoted for a third time, and can confirm I did understand, and agree with, what you said. I'm sorry my summary was inadequate, and may have made it seem otherwise.
As for planning, I am not making assumptions, but perhaps interpreting differently from you. I'm happy to defer to Pine on the details; their recent message captures the gist of what I intended.
I can't give a solid estimate of the "half-life," but I do not think
the
enthusiasm I've seen (and the metrics I cited in my initial message on
this
thread) constitute a passing crush. I do think a "pause" that
necessitates
addressing uncertainty when discussing popular features can have a significant impact, and therefore should be minimized to whatever
degree
is
attainable. I could be wrong, but that's my belief.
Got it. (I add color so I can see. I think I need better glasses. Sad!).
As for the request for more time, I guess I'm just not sure what to
make
of it. I make no demands, and I'm not sure I've heard Pine, James, DJ,
or
anybody in this thread make demands. Is there somebody with standing to grant such a request? I've heard it, and it makes sense. It's
worthwhile
to
know that the team needs more time, and plans to share more on a scale
that
sounds like days-to-weeks. But if there's something specific being
asked
of
me (or others on this list), I'm not clear on what it is.
I was just asking whether you thought it was reasonable to give them the time that they asked for. It wasn't a governance question, or a
discussion
about authority. I was just asking if those who commented, who all seemed to have legitimate concerns, were willing to have the team get back to
them
with any answers that they could fairly, justly, respectfully and legally provide, but more likely they would talk about the future work.
In my mind I've been clear and consistent: "Hey, do you guys think it is reasonable to give these guys some time?" But it seems like I've not made this point clear. Would singing it at karaoke help?
I'd be happy to chat if you come back to it at the end of Q3, if you'd like.
Thanks. I'll reach out.
-Pete
[[User:Peteforsyth]]
On 01/25/2017 06:38 PM, Anna Stillwell wrote:
On Wed, Jan 25, 2017 at 4:53 PM, Pete Forsyth peteforsyth@gmail.com wrote:
Anna,
Pete,
Your points are valid and well taken. If I may summarize what I think
I
heard, it's basically: "Getting things right can be hard, and if full preparations weren't made ahead of time, thorough answers may not be readily available. Be compassionate/patient." Is that about right?
I appreciate that you are trying to understand what I mean. Thanks.
No, I didn’t say getting things right can be hard. I said, “This communication thing is hard, especially when people are involved. Sometimes there are laws that constrain what we say. Sometimes we don’t know
whether
we are right yet and we need a further unpacking of the facts. The
truth
is that there can be a whole host of reasons for partial communication
that
aren’t related to competence or the intent to deceive.”
As for the preparations, it seems that a lot of assumptions are being made. As for thorough answers, some might already be known and others known
once
more planning is completed. However, it could be that the explanations
you
want are not legal to share. There are many issues where employment
law
and worker protections are crystal clear, as they should be.
As for compassion, I don’t require it. That seems like extra to me. I usually prefer just paying attention, but that’s my personal choice.
The team asked for some time. I wondered if that would be a reasonable request to grant them.
If so, I agree in principle and in spirit, but I think the point is in
tension with another one:
Community and public enthusiasm for software can be a rare and
important
thing. The conditions that make it grow, shrink, or sustain are
complex,
and largely beyond the influence of a handful of mailing list participants. The recent outputs of the Interactive Team have generated enthusiasm
in a
number of venues, and many on this list (both volunteers and staff)
would
like to see it grow or sustain, and perhaps throw a little weight
behind
an effort to make it grow or sustain.
Good points. I mean that. Glad to hear of these recent outputs
generate
excitement. I’m personally also getting quite excited about ORES <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Objective_Revision_
Evaluation_Service>
and
what’s going on with the Community Tech Wish List, Labs, and New
Readers.
But I also get that you want to be clear: you'd like to see the interactive team’s work grow or sustain. Makes sense.
The only thing I heard is that the team said that they needed to
pause,
have a bit of time, and get back to everybody. “The team's aim during
this
period is to get its work to a stable and maintainable state.”
But that enthusiasm has a half-life. What is possible today may not be
possible next week or next month. The zeitgeist may have evolved or
moved
on by then.
I'm not in disagreement with your main point about enthusiasm for
software. I think it's a very good one. Enthusiasm with a half life of a week, however, sounds more like a passing crush. Nevertheless, your point
still
stands.
-Pete
-- [[User:Peteforsyth]]
/a
[[User:Annaproject]]
On Wed, Jan 25, 2017 at 3:53 PM, Anna Stillwell <
astillwell@wikimedia.org
wrote:
You make substantive points, Tim. Thank you.
"An employee should not experience their time off as a period where
his
[her/they] work load is just temporarily buffered until his
[her/they]
return, but where colleagues will step in and take care of
business."
I take this point seriously and don't wish you to think otherwise.
In
theory, I absolutely agree. In practice, sometimes we all face
constraints.
There are roughly 300 of us (order of magnitude). Every now and
then,
there
are not enough of us to go around on everything on a timeline that
meets
the legitimate need that you present here. We'll continue to work on
this.
But, to clarify, no one ever said it was a "useful practice" nor did
anyone
suggest that it was generalized across the org.
What I was wondering about in my previous email and now reiterating
in
this
one too, are people willing to grant their request: a bit of time
and
allow
for one person to return to work?
Does that seem like a way to move forward?
Warmly, /a
On Wed, Jan 25, 2017 at 2:50 PM, Tim Landscheidt < tim@tim-landscheidt.de
wrote:
Anna Stillwell astillwell@wikimedia.org wrote: > > […] >> I also hear that the pause on the interactive work is temporary.
I’ve
>> > heard > >> them request time. I am comfortable granting that request, but no
one
>> > is
> required to agree with me. They’ve also said that the person with
the
>> > most > >> information is on vacation. As someone who has seen employees go >> > through
> considerable stress in the last years, the entire executive team is >> > working > >> to establish some cultural standards around supporting vacations.
We
>> > want
> people here to feel comfortable taking proper vacations and
sometimes
>> > that > >> can even need to happen in a crisis. People often plan their >> > vacations
well > >> in advance and may not know that something tricky will come up.
Just
>> > so
you > >> understand one bias I bring to this conversation. >> […] >> > I concur with DJ in his initial mail that this is not a use- > ful practice, and I doubt very much that it relieves employ- > ees' stress. It conveys the organizational expectation that > employees are SPOFs without any backup. An employee should > not experience their time off as a period where his work > load is just temporarily buffered until his return, but > where colleagues will step in and take care of business. > Especially such a major decision like "pausing" a team > should not depend on the inner thoughts of one employee, but > be backed and explainable by others. > > Tim > > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
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-- "If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it." - Margaret Fuller
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