LEADERSHIP and a ROADMAP

[AndrewG]

Hi Jared,

Thanks for your opinion.

I agree with what you have said about Melissa, But she is only one
person and at no time have I advocated that she be replaced.

There are many things in your post that make sense and you probably
can guess that I disagree with you on some.

Can I ask you a question?
Why do you think people have titles ?
Why does Melissa have the title of "Team-contact" ?

'Leadership is not about telling others what to do'

All that I am advocating is that the structure for a 'Team of leaders'
be created and that they be visible.
A process needs to be put into place to encourage 'people' to come
forward.

Nothing really changes in any other aspect of how ubuntu-au operates.
Individuals can still come-up with 'projects', ask for help etc.

You talk about 'BE the change' and this is what I have done in
Brisbane.
I organised the first release party.  I did this with no 'prompting'
or help from anybody.
Possibly because I have experience in organising such things.
"Others however may need help and encouragement."
Who do they turn to ?
The IRC:  You may get a response  (if somebody happens to be on at the
same time)
The Mailing list:  You may get a response.
Team Contact: You may get a response, this is one person who is
expected to do everything & be everything.

I hope that you get my point.


With regards to my references about the other teams.
Yes these other teams are created from larger populations, but once
again this is not the point.
The point is, these teams have a 'leadership-structure' with 'Titles'.
A team can be organised in many ways.


Everybody is not trying to be "Boss", I'm certainly not advocating
that.
I'm trying to "BE the change" and bring about discussion.

These "Projects", how are they progressing ?
Do people need help ?
Nobody knows!


Once again, thanks for your opinion, everybody is entitled to one.


Regards,

Andrew G.

On Apr 13, 10:41 am, Jared Norris <jrnor... at gmail.com> wrote:
> Good morning/afternoon/evening Andrew and the rest of the Ubuntu-AU mailing
> list.
>
> I have been watching these ongoing topics with interest and I personally
> believe that the two viewpoints are both trying to accomplish positive
> outcomes for the Ubuntu-AU team. But I also don't think the two different
> philosophies are mutually exclusive by any means. I have taken some time to
> try and organise my thoughts in a logical pattern and so I will work on
> replying to statements Andrew has made to try and show my viewpoint (and
> yes, I have read all the links you included in your email). I have put
> Andrew's email in italics to try and make it easier to tell what is the
> original email and what is my response.
>
> *On 12 April 2010 12:43, AndrewG <gande... at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > LEADERSHIP and a ROADMAP
>
> > Prologue: 25th March, Melissa Draper (our team contact) was sent an
> > email outlining some of the following in detail.  I am still awaiting
> > a reply (maybe she is on holidays), thus my reason for a public post
> > to the Ubuntu-au community. (I wish that she had replied so we could
> > have made a joint post)
>
> > LEADERSHIP: From the correspondence that I have had with Melissa, she
> > informs me that
> > "The contact is not the dog's body nor is it the mastermind."
> > Further, "I'm responsible for allocating privileges as allowed to us
> > by Canonical. I'm the team /contact/. I'm the person who interfaces
> > between Canonical and the team members."
>
> > So my conclusion is that the 'Team Contact' is NOT the team leader
> > (contrary to popular belief), but a 'Conduit' between Canonical, the
> > Community Council and the Ubuntu-au community. (and also that the Team
> > leader should convey the sentiment of the ubuntu-au community)
>
> > Thus, Ubuntu-au is a collection of people with no leadership, a group
> > of individuals trying to further the goals set down in the wiki page
> > 'The Australian team focuses on distributing, advertising and
> > demonstrating Ubuntu within Australia'
> >*
>
> To my knowledge all this is correct, Melissa is the team contact. I
> personally do not know of anyone active in the Ubuntu-AU that could come
> close to knowing enough about how Canonical works to replace what Melissa
> contributes to us all. I'm not against other people learning about these
> sorts of things but I am pretty sure it would require a fair bit of effort
> for a person to become familiar with all that is required and wouldn't be
> learnt overnight. Melissa, I tip my hat to you, thank you for your efforts
> and I hope other people are willing to put their hand up to help you out.
>
> *>
>
> > I also asked Melissa the following
> > "What is your vision ?"
> > Her reply
> > "My vision is for a team that is constructive and contains people who
> > think up initiatives or support others rather than waiting for
> > orders."
> > My reply
> > "How do we encourage & support constructive people?
> > Some people need to be given guidance, in my experience there are
> > three types of people.
> > 1.  Leaders:  Those that inspire others to do great things
> > 2.  Followers: Those that need inspiration to do great things.
> > 3.  Others:  They just don't give a damn about doing great things."
>
> *
>
> I would have to agree with you both on this one. I agree with Melissa's
> statement as you have quoted it and I also agree that with your statement
> about leadership. I do think you are trying to suggest that the leaders need
> to have a specific title though and I don't I agree with that.
>
>  As per your link tohttps://wiki.ubuntu.com/LoCoTeamLeader“There are two
> meanings of the term *leader*. One is *tell others what to do*, the other is
> *others follow you because you set a good example*. The first concept does
> not work well in any volunteer organization, and Ubuntu Local Teams are no
> exception. “
>
>  Therefore I don't believe you are both necessarily at odds with one another
> on this point.
>
> *
>
>
>
>
>
> > On March 8,9 & 11, there was some very robust threads on this mailing
> > list about Ubuntu-au Governance, Re-approval and the Website.
> > Now I'm not sure that these discussions achieved much as it has been
> > over one month and it seams that these issues remain unresolved.
>
> > I think I can see why this is the case.
>
> > 1.  There seams to be a reluctance to change the status-quo.
> > 2.  There is a fear about 'loss of control'.
> > 3.  There is no clear process to bring about change to the Ubuntu-au
> > community.
> > 4.  There is no 'leadership' to enable change to be achieved.
>
> > In summary: 'Nobody is responsible for everything' or 'Everybody is
> > responsible for Everything' or 'Nobody is responsible for Nothing'
>
> > "Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or
> > present are certain to miss the future."
> > —John F. Kennedy
>
> *
>
> I believe that this particular topic was discussed in the meeting that was
> held after the aforementioned email thread. My memory of the meeting is that
> it would not be constructive to approach the leadership/contact issue until
> after the re approval to provide stability for the re approval process.
> Therefore it would be normal to be unresolved until the re approval process
> was completed. Not to say it can't and won't be revisited after this
> process.
>
>  As for point 1, as a member of Ubuntu-AU for 2 – 3 years I personally am
> very reluctant to change how things are as I see the current relaxed format
> perfect for our community (that's not to say that I don't agree with more
> localised participation and more people willing to pitch in and help out).
>
>  With regards to point 2 I have no fear about loss of control because as a
> member with the current setup as long as I am not harming the Ubuntu-AU and
> I follow the Ubuntu Code of Conduct I don't think there is currently
> anything controlling what I can/can't/should/shouldn't do.
>
>  I want to discuss point 3 and 4 together as a single idea because I believe
> that these two are very related and are the biggest source of confusion for
> the two points of view. In my opinion there is a very clear way to bring
> about change. *Be* the change. Don't wait around for others to tell you what
> to do and how. If you see a need, fill it. If you aren't quite sure about
> something, put it out there for other members to help you out with. Why do
> we need a person with a title to say “ok you can do that, I will let you”.
> To me this is far more counter productive to the whole process than the
> current format.
>
> *
>
>
>
>
>
> > BIG PICTURE:
> > Currently there is a discussion with the Community Council
> >https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu-community/+bug/392986
> > It talks about 'LoCo's are not "Lo" Enough' (Mark Shuttleworth has
> > even made comment)
> > and the concept of:
> > ReCo = Regional Community (for States and Provinces)
> > CoCo = Country Community (for Countries)
> > LoCo = Local Community (for Towns and Cities)
>
> > The Ubuntu-au community is clearly a 'CoCo' not a 'LoCo' as we are
> > seperated by large distances, in cities and regions.
>
> > If we accept the premise that the ubuntu-au community is made up of
> > smaller 'LoCo' around the country.
> > I.E.  Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart
>
> *
>
> I think this point is moot. You don't need to *name* a group just for it to
> exist. As an example has anyone come out and told you to stop promoting the
> Ubuntu-AU meetings in Brisbane? Has anyone told you to take down the
> information on the Ubuntu-AU website about the Brisbane group? I have not
> seen anything like that on this mailing list along those lines that is for
> sure. So essentially you already *have* your city based group that comes
> under the umbrella of the Ubuntu-AU team. If others around the country are
> wanting to do this for their city or town under the current format what is
> to stop them from doing this?
>
> *>
>
>
>
> ***********************************************************************************************************> PROPOSAL:  I would propose that an "Australian Community Council"(ACC)
> > be created. (A Trial for 18 months)
> > Its members would be 1. Team-Contact 2. Web-master 3. 'LoCo'
> > representative(s) (7+-2 people total)
>
> ***********************************************************************************************************
>
>
>
> > (Seehttps://wiki.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-au/council/structurefor a summary
> > of models)
> > (Seehttps://wiki.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-au/council/structure-detailedfor
> > a detailed model of the ACC)
> > (These models have been created in collaboration, and are open to
> > further modification)
>
> > The role of the ACC, is really one of "Advisory, Support &
> > Consultation", as the "Team contact" will still retain the role &
> > privileges.
>
> > ADVANTAGES
> > 1.  It gives the community some ownership in the process of running
> > the Ubuntu-au.
> > 2.  It will bring forward 'leaders', which could be potential
> > successors for the 'Team contact'
> > 3.  Spreading the load of leadership. (with 9 potential persons)
> > 4.  An open transparent process.
> > 5.  Authority to drive discussion and implementation.
> > 6.  The decision making process, on a national level is simplified, it
> > is easier to make decisions with 9 (potentially) than it is with 40 in
> > an IRC meeting.
> > 7.  An identifiable 'Contact' person for each City/Region.
> > There are many Teams in the wider Ubuntu community, that utilise a
> > council to share the leadership role eg. Georgia & Ohio
>
> > DISADVANTAGES
> > 1.  Elections.
> > 2.  Structured.
> > 3.  A Committee.
> > (These are not really disadvantages, but necessary evils to achieve
> > the outcomes of the ADVANTAGES)
>
> *
>
> I don't see having people with titles as being useful to the group. I have
> already explained there is nothing stopping anyone from organising more
> local groups if desired. As far as I can tell there is already plenty of
> opportunity for people who want to help out to come forward either on the
> mailing list or in the IRC channels. I personally know this for a fact as I
> have recently put my hand up to assist with a couple of projects myself and
> have done my best to be useful. As stated by other people on the mailing
> list I am interested to see...
>
> read more »
>
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