I want to throw out a couple of quick thoughts after some recent discussions. We haven't done the best job in enabling leaders in this project to become leaders *of* this project. For example, there is a fair bit of institutional knowledge scattered across the DocsProject pages and within my brain, Paul's brain, etc. Any new leader is challenged by that; becoming aware of all the subtlety of why and how we do things in Fedora Docs is a real challenge. Our focus has been on enabling new writers, and I think we've been fairly successful at making that work (look at all the great content work happening right now.) But when it comes time to enabling leaders to step forward and lead, small parts to large parts, there are some gaps. For example, what actually are the responsibilities of a 'Lead Writer'? I know in my own head, and maybe you do, too, but are they the same thoughts? Etc. Ultimately this makes it hard to attract new leaders to the steering committee or to grow a leader who can take over the project as the Chair/Docs Project Lead. When I took on this role some years ago, the explicit goal was to get the project going and get out of the way, making room for others to lead from within the larger Fedora community. For the most part, that goal has not been accomplished. This is not to say, "I'm tired of Docs and I want out." Actually, I've never been more excited to be a part of this team! But I don't want to keep all the fun to myself. Recently I've been talking with some of the other steering committee members (Paul, Bob, John) about how to improve on this. One idea we've had is to create a new position (Vice Chair). This position is intended to last for six months, at which point the person should be elected by the steering committee into being the Chair for the project. A Chair would then sit for a fixed period of time (12 months?), which gives enough time to bring another person up through the Vice Chair and be in position to be the next Chair. Anyway ... just wanted to get these ideas out there for larger discussion. At the least, let you all know, "There is room in the leadership circle for you." - Karsten "Sometimes the best way to lead is by getting out of the way." -- Karsten Wade, Developer Community Mgr. Dev Fu : http://developer.redhatmagazine.com Fedora : http://quaid.fedorapeople.org gpg key : AD0E0C41
Attachment:
signature.asc
Description: This is a digitally signed message part
-- fedora-docs-list mailing list fedora-docs-list@xxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe: https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-docs-list
