[Osmf-talk] Conflict of Interest

[Andy Robinson (blackadder)]

Frederik Ramm wrote:
>Sent: 29 July 2009 5:25 PM
>To: Gervase Markham
>Cc: osmf-talk at openstreetmap.org
>Subject: Re: [Osmf-talk] Conflict of Interest
>
>Gervase,
>
>> But the logical conclusion of your position is that the more deeply
>> involved in OSM someone becomes, the less likely they are to be suitable
>> for a place on the board.
>
>Might be. But generally I think that "a good businessman", "a good
>coder", "a good board member" are three distinct qualities which will
>only very seldom manifest in the same individual. The board must not be
>run like a business; a business must not be run like the OSMF board.
>
>My view is that while a business might require people with good
>leadership skills and a vision for where to steer the business in the
>next 5 years, the OSMF board is more something where you have to listen
>and serve. Requires different types of people I think, so I don't see
>too much harm done with a hypothetical no-commerce policy.

In reality what I've observed is you need all the skills you tend to find in
well run businesses. Nothing new here just because we are OSM. We have to
listen to our "customers", look after our "employees" and to plan and react
to stay in front of the competition. OSM might require a different emphasis
on some of the issues and of course our terms for "customer" and "employee"
would be different, but in broad terms I've not seen that they are a lot
different from traditional business. 

We may not have to make money, but we still need to look after and make best
use of the assets of the "business".


Cheers

Andy