[Osmf-talk] Mike's open letter

[Oliver Kühn]

Hi Mike,

thank you very much for your open words and an honest, personal opinion. 
I assume the happiness ratio will vary from person to person... I 
support your view that OSMF needs to grow up (I don't mean implementing 
processes of 1.000+ employees organization) and focus on the human factor.

Regards,
Oliver

Am 30.10.2014 um 13:55 schrieb Michael Collinson:
> "This post has a self-certified minimum 2:1 happiness ratio".
>
> This is my summary, a kind-a open letter to the next board and, (at 
> the bottom), an acknowledgement of my own role in the crisis that OSMF 
> members perceive and what I plan.  It is cut down from a number of 
> separate emails I had intended making, so I hope it is understandable. 
> Here goes ...
>
> The OSMF has a a crisis of success. We have roughly 25 volunteers 
> doing 50 substantial already-recognised "jobs" or repeating tasks 
> within OSMF. And that is is just the ones that were recognised some 
> time ago.  This has not fundamentally changed in the last 3 years, 
> (one board cycle). But OSMF membership is modestly bigger, the number 
> of OSM registered users has gone up by 4, the size of the database is 
> up by about 2.5, the folks actually using our maps/data for something 
> is exploding, and so on and so on.
>
> It is my strong contention that all our current woes stem from this 
> one factor.  Here are my conclusions from that analysis and reading as 
> much as I can of your mailing list contributions, reading private 
> emails and talking to folks.  I believe I am being supportive of the 
> next board and not contradicting the platforms of any our new board 
> candidates, (thank you all for running!).
>
> *What I ask OSMF members to accept
>
> *o We have basically made sure that the OSMF "supports but does not 
> control" by saying that it should do everything on a shoestring, 
> (English idiom = tiny budget), therefore ensuring it does not turn 
> into a monster.   That time is past.  It is time for OSMF to raise 
> larger amounts of money and do things with it ... with OSMF members 
> helping in the process of doing that responsibly.
>
> *Want I ask the new board to do that costs $$
>
> *o Commit to a face-to-face meeting.
>
> o Work with the HOT board, (they have shared some of our issues and 
> they have experience on facilitated meetings), and arrange at least 
> one facilitated meeting.
>
> o Hire a part-time coordinator. Again, HOT can advise.
>
> *What I am going to do
>
> *:-(    I am Management Team chair, License Working Group chair and a 
> sort of backup membership secretary.  I am doing an increasingly 
> ineffective job.  This is unhelpful to the board, to OSMF members and 
> to the project at large.  I have also been at it since at least 
> September 2007, am losing motivation and also going to be involved 
> body and soul with a hot Swedish start-up.  I also have a small, 
> enjoyable, happy job creating new mailing lists ... usually milestones 
> that a new community is getting going somewhere in the world. But 
> someone else can equally enjoy that too.  So, I am going at least 
> freeze my actvity as MT chair and relinquish all the other roles.
>
> :-) I am unilaterally starting an experimental project called "Do What 
> I Want To Do".  The basic concept is to create an environment where 
> more folks want to and can do things for the Foundation on a regular 
> or semi-regular basis.  The environment will include things from 
> diversity policy and smoothing the way for folks outside Europe/US to 
> mundane things like how install and maintain software needed to do a 
> specific task.
>
> There will also be Jobs offered /wanted wiki pages. "Jobs wanted":  
> Get people into the OSMF structure who want to do/achieve specific 
> things defined by them. "Jobs offered": Break down things that need 
> doing into smaller units than we do now and recruit folks who can do 
> them and will enjoy doing them.
>
> My personal goal is to increase the number of folks involved with 
> OSMF-related work in some way from 25 to 75 by the end of 2015. As 
> this also needs to be something that I personally want to to, I will 
> be doing it to suit me, i.e. in fits and bursts.  I hope to get some 
> basic wiki pages and an introduction made to the main talk list by end 
> Monday.
>
>
> Happy Mapping to all,
> Mike
>
>

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