Re: [Wikimedia-l] Context around the KE

[Kevin Smith]

For what it's worth, In early October 2015, the Discovery department was
very clearly told by Wes (who I believe was not yet a c-level) that the
mysterious term "Knowledge Engine" was being deprecated, and that the
Discovery team was not working on any huge product-like initiative. The
team was to remain focused on the work they were already doing: improving
and enhancing search within and across wikimedia projects, Wikidata Query
Service, maps, portal improvements, etc.

It sounds like there were ongoing communication disconnects between
board<->execs and/or execs<->managers. The good news is that regardless of
what was happening at higher levels, the team was never pulled into any
work on moon shots.

For context, I was the agile coach for the search team in April 2015, and
then became the agile coach for the Discovery department when it was
created as part of the re-org shortly after that.



Kevin Smith
Agile Coach, Wikimedia Foundation


On Tue, Feb 23, 2016 at 6:04 AM, James Heilman  wrote:

> The project formally know as the Knowledge Engine was frequently referred
> to as a "moon shot" in November 2015 by a number of my fellow board
> members. This terminology I believe accurately highlighted the size,
> expense, and risk that this proposal was.
>
> How we have described the KE to our movement has been significantly
> different. All efforts appear to be to minimize what was proposed. And
> efforts to explain it at all have only occurred after greater community
> understanding became inevitable.
>
> I find it disappointing to see the ED and some board members try to deny
> and downplay the plans that previously existed. While the ED has recently
> apologized for the lack of transparency, this was brought to her attention
> many times before, and thus I am not convinced her apology will result in a
> change in her approach.
>
> --
> James Heilman
> MD, CCFP-EM, Wikipedian
>
> The Wikipedia Open Textbook of Medicine
> www.opentextbookofmedicine.com
> ___
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> 
___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 

[Wikimedia-l] Context around the KE

[James Heilman]

The project formally know as the Knowledge Engine was frequently referred
to as a "moon shot" in November 2015 by a number of my fellow board
members. This terminology I believe accurately highlighted the size,
expense, and risk that this proposal was.

How we have described the KE to our movement has been significantly
different. All efforts appear to be to minimize what was proposed. And
efforts to explain it at all have only occurred after greater community
understanding became inevitable.

I find it disappointing to see the ED and some board members try to deny
and downplay the plans that previously existed. While the ED has recently
apologized for the lack of transparency, this was brought to her attention
many times before, and thus I am not convinced her apology will result in a
change in her approach.

-- 
James Heilman
MD, CCFP-EM, Wikipedian

The Wikipedia Open Textbook of Medicine
www.opentextbookofmedicine.com
___
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,