[Foundation-l] Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel

Tue Jun 13 07:10:31 UTC 2006

On 6/13/06, Michael Snow <wikipedia at earthlink.net> wrote:

> Brad hasn't even had his first day on the job yet, so I think it's a
> little early to be asking where the timetables and reports are. This
> isn't even as far along as the process for replacing Tim Shell on the
> Board, and I think Jimmy's response on that issue applies just as well
> here. Let's have less haste and more speed. If you want to speed things
> along, I'm sure an outline of the strategy for conducting the search
> would be welcomed.

I wasn't asking for reports, only for guesstimates on when we might
reasonably expect them. An update on the process by August 2006 should
be possible, for instance. "Interim" can mean many things (in Steve
Jobs' case, it meant "the CEO who never left"), and I hope there is
consensus among everyone concerned that this is, indeed, a stopgap
solution until we have identified an ideal candidate for the role of
ED.

As for the strategy in identifying a future "permanent" ED, we need to
first be clear on what the future organizational model of the
Wikimedia Foundation is going to be. For instance, there is a
resolution to create an Executive Committee:

http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution_Executive_committee

In spite of its creation being authorized by the Board, AFAIK nothing
has happened since it was last discussed in the Open Wikimedia
meeting. Do we still want this committee, and if so, what roles will
it serve? What will its interaction be with the Executive Director?
Will (all/some) of its members also be Board members (as is typical
for non-profits)?

I personally prefer the term "Administrative Director" to "Executive
Director" given that "ED" or "CEO" suggests a very broad scope of
abilities and responsibilities which, I fear, for an organization like
Wikimedia cannot really be united in a single person. For instance, I
believe that R&D is a key function that needs to be driven and
coordinated by the executive body.

Projects like Wiktionary(Z), Wikiquote, Wikisource, Wikibooks,
Wikinews, and Wikicommons can only flourish if their specific needs
are identified, and strategies are developed to meet these needs. The
executive body (whatever it is called in the end) needs to set
priorities, assign responsibilities, and communicate with a large
group of individuals who bring ideas and capabilities to the
Foundation. While I value Brad's legal insights and his professional
background, I doubt he would be the right person to make such
decisions -- and the same is probably true for any ED who meets the
criteria of:
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution_CEO

The term "Executive Director" suggests that the person will be
responsible for "executing" the mission of the Wikimedia Foundation,
when in reality, the tasks described on the above URL deal primarily
with "keeping things running", rather than "moving things forward". I
favor a larger Executive Committee with different roles, whose purpose
is to coordinate and oversee the work of the individual committees.
The "Administrative Director" in this model complements other roles
such as R&D, community communications, etc. (who the ExecCom members
are is the tricky question).

If, however, the "Executive Director" is to unite multiple very
different capabilities in one person, then of course that will make it
very difficult to find the ideal candidate for that role -- if not
impossible.

I'd be happy to help develop an organizational model, but I'd also be
interested in what plans there currently are, and what Brad's thoughts
on the above matters are.

Erik