Hello folks, So... I caught bits of this while I was on layover between plane flights, so I've had time to have the multiple reactions that one has (nothing like an 11-hour flight to think about a situation). I've had time to feel defensive, insulted, opened, humbled, curious, thoughtful, regretful, optimistic...
This is an earnest “I'm sorry, I'll do better” and I don't perfectly know what that looks like yet, because I (and I suspect like you) go from day to day within in a complex life trying to do the best I can. I'll respond more later, as I've got some scheduled time a way and like all human beings I need it, but will circle back when I return to work next Monday. I was thinking that I would be a very different person if I never made mistakes. :) In fact, contemplation of that is rather funny if any of you know me or the circumstances of my life. I could have done the process differently. I DO sometimes forget we're all on the same side. That's a darned shame. I do it sometimes because part of my job is to deal with how beleaguered some members (not all – I'm trying to find my way back to nuance and ask you to too) because sometimes they ask me for help, because I deal every day with burnout and chaos and challenging interpersonal dynamics, and I see some of the downright abusive messages that no person (staff or admin or user or each and any one of you reading this) should be subject to while pursuing work they love. (I also get to see some of the grateful messages, the way we support one another, not just tear people down. That part is /awesome/.) I find our staff and volunteers that I've worked with remarkable - people who I'm ridiculously grateful to work with and for. And I have no doubt that some of you have experienced staff (myself included) in ways I'm blind to, and I think there's room for all of us to get better. But I wish people could see how, even though it's our job, it can be sometimes just exhausting to try to please so many different voices. Some of you may think that the Foundation doesn't think about the community – and I think we sometimes listen so much that it's a little crazy because, as has been explained to us, the community is not one voice, not one thing, not one person. It's a vast, beautiful, sometimes conflicted, sometimes coordinated people working on this enormous shared endeavor. So it's not that community is not worth listening to, but how and where and to what pieces, and how do we get better at it and how do we amplify the constructive voices and not let deconstructive voices (both within the Foundation and without) tear us down because this work is hard. All our work is hard. I do appreciate the volunteers who have stepped and kept things going when I was personally at capacity. When I read that I need to remember just who pays my salary, I think a whole bunch of things (and have the various reactions I have, where both assume good faith that someone means that and I also look at the possibility that it was meant to be insulting and provoking). And at the end of the day, millions of people do and hundreds of thousands of editors help make that happen. I don't forget that. I do think that I am called to this role because on my best days, it uses me well – it uses my skills and knowledge and abilities in ways that I hope are good for the world. I am not anyone's servant (except perhaps for this cause), and I am deeply listening. So sometimes I forget we're on the same side, and thank you for reminding me. Thank you for the temperate voices, the ones who present a point of view I hadn't considered. As you can likely imagine, I hear more that way. Most people do. Someone mentioned that it's easier to lay good ground than to fix something in retrospect, and that most certainly is very, very true. :) (I really dislike that other people had to answer for me while I was out of commission - and my own fault for doing something on my to-do list the Friday before leaving town. Totally get that.) So...listening, thinking... also tired, but optimistic, and I hope and want to keep doing better. This definitely feels like a bit of trial by fire. Warmest regards, Gayle -- Gayle Karen K. Young Chief Talent and Culture Officer Wikimedia Foundation 415.310.8416 www.wikimediafoundation.org _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
