> Date: Thu, 16 May 2013 12:47:08 -0700 > From: Michael Snow <wikipe...@frontier.com> > To: wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Patience > Message-ID: <519537bc.6000...@frontier.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed > > On 5/16/2013 11:52 AM, ENWP Pine wrote: > > I agree that patience is a very important virtue in some situations, such > > as when we coach newbies or seek consensus among many people. But it's > > sometimes not a virtue, such as in many crisis situations. As a metrics and > > performance enthusiast, I feel that it's possible to have an appropriate > > mix of patience and impatience, and people should be appropriately > > accountable for their performance. > I suppose it depends what implications you attach to those words, but I > would not recommend using "impatience" when what you really want is > "urgency". In my experience, the self-discipline that goes into everyday > patience can actually remain a virtue in crisis situations as well, as > it may help you remain clear-headed and make better decisions than you > would if you let the circumstances overwhelm your ability to think > rationally. And as Fred points out, a big part of my message relates > especially to making emergencies out of things that are not. > > I also do not believe that patience is in any way incompatible with > accountability. Patience does not require ignoring commitments, > discarding performance evaluation, or even disregarding agreed > timeframes. However, it does mean that the results of the evaluation > should be well-considered and any consequences appropriate to the > circumstances. Impatience tends to drive us to choose excessive > consequences, like a lot of the "somebody should be fired" kind of talk > over things that are honest mistakes. > > --Michael Snow > > >
I think I understand your distinction between urgency and impatience in the sense that the former doesn't necessarily imply the brusqueness that the latter can. Whether a situation is an emergency is sometimes subjective. I think that someone on this list pointed out that something that's a crisis for one entity may be viewed as a minor issue by another entity. I agree that employment consequences for poor performance should be carefully considered prior to implementation. However, sometimes demoting or firing someone is appropriate, even if a poor decision was an "honest mistake". Serious negligence is unacceptable. On the other hand, it's also a good idea do praise and celebrate success and good performance, as we're doing now with regards to Spanish Wikipedia's significant milestone. Pine _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l