On Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 1:04 PM, Fred Bauder <fredb...@fairpoint.net> wrote:
> > > > > The other side of that coin is that when there are systemic problems that > > necessarily reduce in stress or even abusive treatment of administrators, > > you ought to be identifying and correcting that. Right now, you have > > exactly > > such a situation. Working toward identifying and correcting whatever > > cultural aspects of Wikipedia community compound rather than relieve the > > stress and suffering caused to administrators doing their jobs is an > > important priority not to be "crowded out" by the thinking that we need > > to > > learn to deal with oppressive bureaucracy or a culture of mob justice. > > > > With that in mind, there is a diplomatic pitfall to the approach you > > suggest. In same cases, focusing on helping administrators learn to "cope > > with the pressure" inherent to the jobs they've volunteered to do is > > going > > to come off patronizing. I certainly heard it that way when people made > > this > > kind of suggestion in real-time, because it was another example of > > someone > > telling me what *I* needed to be doing differently. I didn't feel like > > the > > problem was that I needed to learn to accept that I was being treated > > badly; > > it may well have been better for my peace of mind if I had, but that is > > not > > a solution that is going to help the project. > > > > So from a strategic perspective (retaining human resources) it's > > perilous, > > but also it might lead you to develop blind spots to real and solvable > > problems. You don't want to get into a situation where any time a problem > > comes up you recall that "Stressful situations are inevitable, we need to > > [take a break and cool down / come back later / apply whatever other > > therapeutic technique we've prescribed]" because then you'll not do what > > you > > need to do to fix a serious cultural problem that necessarily gives rise > > to > > administrator "flame out". > > > > My skin was already plenty thick. A lot of the people who have burned out > > or > > resigned as a result of this were experienced editors who knew what it > > was > > like to be under pressure for making a decision someone didn't like. You > > can't do everything right, but you can recognize problems and take steps > > toward addressing them. Helping people learn to cope with stress may be > > one > > prong of your attack, but it can't be the only one -- not here. > > > > - causa sui > > > > Yes, we need to address the problems, not blame the victims and help them > cope with nightmares. > > Fred > > > > What do you propose? _______________________________________________ WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
