I haven't steeped myself in WMF governance details in the past couple of years, but SJ's observation strikes me as sensible.
For example, after 15+ years of board governance, we shouldn't have to spend time every year debating how the Board is to be selected, each time resulting in a more complicated process than before. The situation reminds me of the sort of rules-creep we frequently see on English WIkipedia. Each individual change is well-intentioned and on its own may make sense, but the cumulative effect is much too complicated, and to newcomers sometimes virtually impenetrable. (Cf. https://slate.com/technology/2014/06/wikipedias-bureaucracy-problem-and-how-to-fix-it.html , which as it happens was written by a current WMF board member.) That being said, I'm not sure what specifically should be done to address this problem. In particular, let's not create a committee and process to decide whether we have too many committees and processes. Best regards, Newyorkbrad/IBM On Wed, May 18, 2022 at 4:45 PM Samuel Klein <meta...@gmail.com> wrote: > Dear Board (and all), > > The growing complexity of governance efforts is defeating us. Process > creep <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Avoid_instruction_creep> is > an existential threat for projects like ours – it is self-perpetuating if > not actively curtailed, as it filters out people who dislike excess > process. There's a reason 'bureaucrats' and 'stewards' have unglamorous > titles. > > Global governance in particular seems to be suffering from this now. Let's > try to scale it back! Recent developments, all at least somewhat confusing: > > *Global Council*: A three-stage vote for the drafting committee. After 6 > months of work in private, we know the charter will cover governance, > resourcing, & community > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_Charter/Content>. A ratifiable > charter by 2023 should include Council scope, then *another* group may > draft an election process. Council elections would start mid-2024. > > *Conduct*: Two years from first draft to realization. Custom review & > revision process for policy, set to change ~once a year. Enforcement by > *another* group (U4C), not yet defined, with an idea about annual > elections for it [starting in 2023?]. > > *WMF Board*: A *four*-stage election, with a new complex nomination > template. Nominees evaluated by *another* elected 9-person Analysis > Committee, followed by a two-stage vote. > Months of process, 16 staff facilitators. > > Something has to give. We don't have time for all of these to be > different, complex affairs. > And this complexity feels self-imposed, like trying to push spaghetti > through a straw. > > ~ ~ ~ > Four short proposals for your consideration: > > 1. Focus discussions on the decisions we need to resolve, not on process. > We need a foundation Board & global Council for specific practical > reasons. What challenges do they need to resolve this year? What major > issues + nuances are at play? > > 2. Make elections simple, flexible, consistent. > Build tools and frameworks that *conserve* rather than soak up community > time. Make longer processes capture proportionately detailed results. > Empower a standing election committee. > > 3. Highlight ways people can engage with governance + prioritization, > regionally + globally, beyond winning elections to procedural bodies. > *Support* organizers + facilitators rather than *hiring* them out of > their communities to facilitate on behalf of a central org. > > 4. Delegate more. Delegate to community. Delegate *design* and > *implementation*. > Our communities excel at self-organization, and rebel against arbitrary > mandates. Avoid language or policies that remove agency or > exaggerate staff-community division. > > 𝒲♡, SJ > > -- > Samuel Klein @metasj w:user:sj +1 617 529 4266 > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines > at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > Public archives at > https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/message/7UVDBQTEWTR3ZNYLEP5TWAOVHF372OEL/ > To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-le...@lists.wikimedia.org
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