[foundation-board] Draft announcement for Team and then Wider Public

Jane Silber jane.silber at canonical.com
Fri Sep 12 12:40:26 UTC 2014 

Hi -

Apologies in advance for the brevity and if I inflame what feels like
sore spots in the org, but here's what I think:

1. The current situation requires some advice and coaching to the exec
team, not a Board meeting or a Board decision.

2. My personal advice/coaching is that the proper way to frame this is
along the lines of "the org is successful & growing, we are proactively
adapting to the future needs of the org and will soon begin a public
search for a new ED/CEO. This is an exciting time for OKF and we can't
wait".

3. Concise clarity that Laura is leaving and Rufus is staying are
important sub-themes.  All the stuff about what the new leader will do
once on board is superfluous and a bit destructive.  It perpetuates this
state of "we don't have  a strategy, we have all this issues, we don't
know what to do, but a saviour is coming and we will review everything
again".  The strategy & plan IS the strategy & plan until it is
changed.  You don't need to spread further anxiety that things are up in
the air.
 
Tone should be positive, confident and forward-looking.  Tone should not
be accusatory or apologetic.

That's my 2 cents/pence.

Jane

On 12/09/14 12:17, Karin Christiansen wrote:
> Thanks Laura. And for starting this off Rufus.
>
> Can Penny help us with the comms? Rufus have you had a chance to talk
> to her yet?
>
> I would like to try and organise a board only call sometime soon if
> that is possible.  Could someone from the Open Knowledge team
> facilitate that?
>
> Thanks
> Karin
>
>
> Sent from my HTC
>
> ----- Reply message -----
> From: "Laura James" <laura.james at okfn.org>
> To: "OKF Board Mailing List" <foundation-board at lists.okfn.org>
> Subject: [foundation-board] Draft announcement for Team and then Wider
> Public
> Date: Fri, Sep 12, 2014 10:57
>
> For clarity, the current state of the FAQ is merely a starting list of
> questions (some of which were proposed by ON) and we need to flesh out
> answers - it's not in a state to help us with communications yet!  If
> the board have suggestions for other matters we should clarify, so
> that we can ensure we have a clear message for the team and community,
> please do add these in.  (We need to work on this, as the announcement
> to the management team, which could be seen as the dry run here, was
> confused and contradictory and left a great deal of uncertainty and
> worry.)
>
> ON have suggested we might want to frame the announce as a broader
> piece around change. Although it may be obvious to some readers that a
> new leader is likely to mean a review of strategy and operations, this
> won't be apparent to others, and in the interests of consistent
> message (team and community hearing same thing) and transparency it
> was suggested that we might want to include a little more context. 
>
> I am not particularly happy with Rufus's draft post, as it implies the
> change is being driven by a decision by me to leave, which is simply
> not the case. I think a more positive framing, around the fact that we
> are now in a great position and can look ahead and seek someone with
> the right skills, is rather stronger from an organisational point of
> view. However, if there is a general agreement that we want to frame
> this as driven by me, I would appreciate being consulted. The
> rationale for the change is quite important to get right and to
> message clearly and consistently to each audience, and I would expect
> to be involved in developing that message.
>
> My role here was only ever intended as an interim one, with the idea
> that I would support Rufus and the organisation for a short while
> until things had stabilised and a new leader could be recruited
> allowing Rufus to move on. This took longer than expected:when I
> agreed to go full time in November 2012, we anticipated that I was
> joining for 12 months, or 18 at the outside (and of course the plan
> has now changed and Rufus is staying on).  I suspect this may not have
> been clear to the board at the time, or since.  I expect at some point
> to go through learnings from this sort of thing with board members at
> an exit interview.
>
> Laura
>
>
> On 12 September 2014 10:02, Rufus Pollock <rufus.pollock at okfn.org
> <mailto:rufus.pollock at okfn.org>> wrote:
>
>     Hi All,
>
>     At board meeting Friday there was discussion and then a decision
>     re drafting an announce to share with team and then wider public
>     as soon as was feasible (likely next Thursday at all-hands and
>     then public post following that).
>
>     My first-pass draft is below and feedback would be very welcome.
>
>     It is also available in this commentable google doc here
>     <https://docs.google.com/a/okfn.org/document/d/11WStzQDFRgHpdBTGRo2xKNsse9Xw1uVLLI9iIn9uxFE/edit#> which
>     also contains an FAQ plus a different version of the announce that
>     Laura has drafted.
>
>     Regards,
>
>     Rufus
>
>     ## Announce
>
>     For a decade Open Knowledge has been a leader in its field,
>     working at the forefront of efforts to open up information around
>     the world and and see it used to empower citizens and
>     organizations to drive change.
>
>
>     Both the community and original non-profit have grown
>     significantly and the space in which we work continues to develop
>     and evolve rapidly with many exciting new opportunities and
>     activities.
>
>
>     Today we’re announcing that our CEO Laura James is planning to
>     move on to new challenges and new ventures and that we are
>     therefore seeking to recruit a new senior executive to help lead
>     Open Knowledge as it continues to evolve and grow. This process is
>     starting now, and will ensure the new executive will be able to
>     play a significant role in shaping future strategy and direction
>     for Open Knowledge.
>
>
>     Laura has played a central role over the last few years as we’ve
>     grown from a team of half-a-dozen to more than forty. Thanks to
>     her dedication and skill we’ve navigated many of the tough
>     challenges that accompany “growing-up” as an organization. We have
>     been privileged to have her with us and she will be sorely missed.
>
>
>     Our Founder and President Rufus Pollock will remain in post and
>     will be here both to help lead the organization in the interim and
>     to work closely with the new appointment going forward.
>     Furthermore, Laura, is also able to remain to in post as needed
>     both to continue to run the organization and to assist with the
>     recruitment.
>
>
>     The management team will be continuing to lead the individual
>     teams within Open Knowledge through these changes and will help to
>     support the new leadership team. 
>
>     We’re really excited to be embarking on this, and to have the
>     opportunity to prepare Open Knowledge for its next decade.
>
>     _______________________________________________
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>
>
>
> -- 
> *
>
> *
> *
>
> *Dr Laura James*
>
> *CEO  *
>
> *
> *
>
> *
>
> **skype: laura.james  |  **@LaurieJ <http://twitter.com/LaurieJ>
>
> *
>
> *
> *
>
> Open Knowledge <http://okfn.org/>   -    A world where knowledge
> creates power for the many, not the few
>
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>
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>
> The Open Knowledge Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation.  It is
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-- 
Jane Silber | CEO | Canonical
Dir: +44 (0)20 7630 2472 | Mob: +44 (0)7899 891 943
www.canonical.com | www.ubuntu.com 

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