Re: Focus

[Nadim Shaikli <shaikli at yahoo dot com>]

--- Mohammed Elzubeir <elzubeir at arabeyes dot org> wrote:
> On Tue, 2004-03-30 at 00:50, Nadim Shaikli wrote:
>
> > I beg to differ and differ with a wrapper and bow on it :-)  I don't think
> > we are anywhere close to being on auto-pilot and think that is really where
> > all our problems might be at.  We have to have a much more hands on role
> 
> That we are (I am) under the illusion that we are on auto-pilot? Maybe.

I think if some think we are and others don't there is a problem right
then and there as we are all not aligned in our vision and direction.
 
> What I am saying is, we spend time nit-picking on projects maintained by
> 'core' members only and do not pay any attention to non-core maintained
> projects. We should either not do this, or review _all_ projects the
> same way. Or are we of the opinion that only core-maintained projects
> are of importance?

If we do it only on projects that we are involved in, then that's a
mistake we should correct and try to catch each other from falling
into.  We do though address issues are we not involved in, BiCon,
KDE, arabizer, etc - but I think you have a valid point.  We should
not "concentrate" on our projects as much as we should "concentrate"
on ALL projects.

> > Again, I'm trying to focus on the subject at hand and not get into various
> > secondary topics or jabs (none of this is personal and none of it should
> 
> I'm not taking any of this personally -- but we have worked with each
> other for quite some time (especially you and I go back to the very
> beginning), so we do owe it to each other to know what's going on in our
> personal lives (to an extent) to understand why there is a surge/slump
> in activity.

Sure, taking a day or two or a week or two (worse case scenarios), but
we seem to have been working in a semi-handicapped manner for months
now and thus the need to resolve the situation.  I'm by no means
advocating drop everything and live/breath/sleep Arabeyes, I'm just
saying it needs all of our fair attention and we need to give it that.
Again, we had the rule (rightly or wrongly) of 1 hour a day for Arabeyes
related work (ie. not IRC and not emails) -- I think if we stuck to that
alot would get done.

> > be).  I want to make sure we all start functioning in a manner that we
> > can truly call ourselves Arabeyes managers and people that are looking
> > out for the well-being of the project (not just sustaining its existence).
> 
> That's probably what I meant by being on auto-pilot (sustaining
> existence).

Well, again I don't think that's the current state we need to be in.

> > until this topic is settled and agreed upon (the first step to a solution
> > is admitting the existence of a problem).  If we are unable to take on
> > and fulfill the responsibilities as 'core' then we should try to find
> > another group of people more capable than us.  If there are questions with
> 
> Heh.. Nadim, are you serious? Even with our lately sketchy performance,
> I guarantee that we would not be able to find 'more' capable people to
> take on the responsibilities of 'core'. This is simply a reality. There
> are people I would love to see get onboard (we have discussed this in a
> previous meeting I believe).. we can't even get a stable KDE coordinator
> or .. oh don't get me started ;)

I'm simply trying to note the importance of what is on our shoulders.  The
responsibility is there and the need for action/direction/supersivion is
there as well from our volunteers.  If we can't stand-up and do it right
then we should really look inwards onto why and possibly seek external
help - but avoiding the issue thinking that we are the best the project
can do isn't serving the project any.  I'm not saying we just give up
or start sobbing and crying - I'm saying we should focus on our tasks
daily/weekly and long-term and slowly even start knocking them down.

> > regards to what 'core' does (if the past 3 years haven't made that clear
> > enough), then let's ask the volunteers for their input and listen to their
> > needs and thoughts.
> > 
> 
> I am always for that option. Involving volunteers in core's decision
> making process is very essential (whether we are in agreement on
> something or not). 

Sure - that's why all our meetings and correspondence is publicly available.
As you might have noticed, not many really care too much about Arabeyes
internals as long as they get done and that's where we are supposed to
step-in (to cater to those volunteers and to foster the project and its
growth).  Mind you also that we are 95+% of the time in agreement on things,
so we are not a dysfunctional group per se, we simply need to be more
active and take more of a concentrated role long-term and not spurt-up
into action anytime someone's screams become loud enough.

> Now, in order for this thread (re-re-rethread), we first have to
> acknowledge the basics:
> 
>   - We are in trouble (core is not pulling its weight with some doing
> much more work than others). Nadim and Youcef doing too much work
> whereas Anmar and I are just slacking [yeah, I name names, we are only
> 4, we can be honest about it].
>     This doesn't only leave the harder workers digruntled, but causes
> them to completely let go when their energy and drive dies out when they
> see they are the only ones pulling the cart. How long do we give the
> slackers the benefit of the doubt (do you get more time for seniority?
> <g>)?
> 
>   - Crucial projects are not being given enough attention (e.g. Arabbix,
> KDE and Duali -- all need _immediate_ and _serious_ attention, which
> they are getting none of).
> 
> Anything else?

I'm not a fan of naming names unless people probe me (we are all
adults here and I think we all know if we are doing enough or not).

In general I'd like to add (a bit more detail),

 - Taking ownership of things assigned to one so that the issue doesn't
   lapse and become an issue again (ie. track your todos any which way
   you like, but get them done and finish-up the task)

 - Speedier attention/replies to outside contact is needed

 - Speedier attention to project hosting is needed

 - A bit more involvement in a timely manner on the mailing-lists esp.
   when general Arabeyes issues are involved (means lists need to be
   inspected and read at least every 2-3 days).

 - Overall more involvement and less delays on our TODOs (how about
   if a person can only delay his todo twice else he gets eaten by
   parana's :-)

 - Get back to having fun while doing all this.

BTW: thanks Mohammed for your clear, direct tone and balanced approach
     as well as focus on the issues.

 - Nadim


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