[Wikipedia-l] [WikiEN-l] the process that isn't written

Wed Oct 4 17:32:01 UTC 2006

David Gerard wrote:

>Can anyone think how to rephrase this better? Would it actually get
>through to anyone who needs to hear it?
>
>(I eagerly await all the people saying I should read what I wrote.)
>
>====
>Cultural expectations
>
>These are the things we do that aren't actually codified. The feel of
>the project. The social structure. This stuff is process too, but if
>you contradict it you'll really upset people. Breaking a rule is just
>breaking a rule; but breaking a cultural expectation is breaking
>people's basic assumptions about the fabric of this small world of
>ours. And upset volunteers fade away.
>
>If you think you're keeping to the fundamental rules and the sensible
>processes but repeatedly upset people in the same way, your approach
>is ineffective. If you are in fact right, and cultural expectations
>are getting in the way of writing the encyclopedia, you've got a hard
>job ahead of you changing them. But that's the trouble with vision.
>
Regretably, those who most desparately need to understand this, are the 
ones least capable of it.  For them it needs to be put in the form of a 
rule, often one with punitive consequences for failure to adhere to it.  
Perhaps being blocked for upsetting some number of people in the same 
way despite being technically correct according to the literal rules.

Vision is great, but it requires being able to see beyond the rules.  It 
requires being able to see where the rules are likely to interfere with 
the mission.

Ec