On Thu, 2011-11-10 at 21:10 +1000, Jean Weber wrote:
> Thank you to everyone for your support of David's proposal for me to
> be team leader. I am honoured.
>
> However, after much thought, I am declining the invitation. I will
> continue to do some things, but only intermittently, and I do not want
> to accept responsibility for the things I think need to be done. What
> I want to do requires enough others contributing reliably and
> productively to get at least some jobs done. And we don't have enough
> productive people. I've been recruiting for and promoting OOo/LO docs
> for many years, and the results have not been encouraging. I don't
> know what the secret is for successful volunteer recruitment and
> retention, but obviously I haven't stumbled on it. I'm tired of
> trying.
>
> Some time ago I did a fairly thorough "brain dump" into the chapters
> of the Contributors Guide. Even though they need updating and (in some
> cases) expansion, they should be a good starting place for the group's
> members, both new and veteran. I sincerely hope some people will
> emerge to take over doing the necessary work, and doing it well.
>
> --Jean
>
The explanation is in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:3-9).
Pardon me for being religious, but this parable does point out human
frailties. It divides people into four groups: those who don't
understand a situation at all; those who like the idea until something
happens that they don't like; those who begin work on something but let
other things get in their way to prevent completion; and those who
actually accomplish something some more than others and some less. Such
is the case with volunteers.
People want someone to lead (read that do things for them) but
seldom step up to doing things themselves as much as they should. Here
is another religious reference. When Israel first neared their
destination, they refused to go any further because of what 10 men had
said. Talking about not following someone, the entire army (603550 men)
with the exception of 2 men prepared to return to Egypt.
I'm still amazed that a wiki page has been created in which we were
suppose to discuss job descriptions for the team and only two have
entered anything there. I posted my thoughts, and another person added
my name at the beginning of my post. That has been it. Again, I have
seen several +1 with no -1 in posts. But where are their thoughts on
this wiki page? Who has said that they will take responsibility for a
specific area of documentation?
We are a group of individuals with talents. What is it that each
one can do well? What are our areas of expertise? Who can we rely upon
for help when we need it? One wiki page has a list of names, but nothing
about these people as far what they can provide the the team. What is
our commitment to the team?
The main goal for what the team should be accomplishing has already
been stated. But how well has the main goal been broken down into
smaller goals that apply to the documents for each of the components of
LO?
Another wiki page diagrams the path a new document should take
before it is published. So, who is going to take on the responsibility
of revise a chapter or creating a new one? Who is going to review the
chapters for clarity or correctness? Who is going to proofread them for
grammar etc.? Who will make the final decision as to whether it should
be published or not?
I have a few more thoughts as well that I will post at a later time
concerning what we should tell someone who wants do some technical
writing. So of it are some things that I think I remember Jean writing a
few years ago (around the time of or perhaps before the appearance of
OOo 2.0).
--
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