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--- otw-culture [2021/08/29 17:35]
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+++ otw-culture [2021/08/30 06:25] (current)
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 ====== OTW culture ======
-In a Dec. 8, 2013 thread that is also discussed on [[w/page/101829649/OTW%202013|this page]], an ex-OTW nonny who’d //“walked away from the OTW”// a number of times before finally quitting wrote [[http://fail-fandomanon.livejournal.com/73284.html?thread=348103492#t348103492|two]] long [[http://fail-fandomanon.livejournal.com/73284.html?thread=348125252#t348125252|comments]], worth reading in their entirety. They said OTW board members //“fuck up things because they have little technical knowledge and refuse to admit that is so, to the point of throwing outright temper tantrums if they’re called out on it.”// They refuse to let technological incompetents go //“[b]ecause of some mix of ‘cult of nice’ [and] the idea that if you say no to someone who is getting things done, they might get mad and quit.//
+In a Dec. 8, 2013 thread that is also discussed on [[otw-2013|this page]], an ex-OTW nonny who’d //“walked away from the OTW”// a number of times before finally quitting wrote [[http://fail-fandomanon.livejournal.com/73284.html?thread=348103492#t348103492|two]] long [[http://fail-fandomanon.livejournal.com/73284.html?thread=348125252#t348125252|comments]], worth reading in their entirety. They said OTW board members //“fuck up things because they have little technical knowledge and refuse to admit that is so, to the point of throwing outright temper tantrums if they’re called out on it.”// They refuse to let technological incompetents go //“[b]ecause of some mix of ‘cult of nice’ [and] the idea that if you say no to someone who is getting things done, they might get mad and quit.//
 //“This is the way of the OTW. Much of the coding structure to the AO3 is ancient spaghetti code left from the days when the **committee chairs** were afraid to say no in case people would quit. [...] The OTW spends thousands of dollars on new servers,”// but because they won’t change the obsolete code, that money is spent inefficiently. The Board also pays for things they could have gotten for free had they not //“drive[n] off competent people,”// and they often go to committee chairs and offer to throw money at them. Because //“[OTW] income outpaces outgoing money,”// this has not yet caught up with them in full.
@@ Line 37: / Line 37: @@
 //I quit. The person who put in that hack is still lauded as one of the best people at the OTW because they get tons of things done. The problem still exists, although it is limping along at the moment.//
-Lots more discussion of the OTW’s internal culture has turned up in autumn 2015 discussions of [[w/page/101829643/OTW%202015%20Elections%20and%20Fundraiser|the organization’s current elections and fundraising efforts]]. An [[http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/160548.html?thread=863408932#cmt863408932|ex-volunteer]] opined that when they were active in the OTW, //“the culture itself was screwed up, and that dysfunction on the Board/committee level was a side-effect of that, not a cause.”// The dysfunction, they said, comprised //“some combination of conflict-averseness, insularity, and perfectionism of the if-it-can’t-be-perfect-it’s-not-worth-doing nature, which resulted in significant martyr complexes, defensiveness, and passive aggression at all levels.”// And it has persisted because //“the only people who last long enough to become staff/board are the people with the highest tolerance for those issues.”//
+Lots more discussion of the OTW’s internal culture has turned up in autumn 2015 discussions of [[otw-2015-elections-and-fundraiser|the organization’s elections and fundraising efforts]]. An [[http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/160548.html?thread=863408932#cmt863408932|ex-volunteer]] opined that when they were active in the OTW, //“the culture itself was screwed up, and that dysfunction on the Board/committee level was a side-effect of that, not a cause.”// The dysfunction, they said, comprised //“some combination of conflict-averseness, insularity, and perfectionism of the if-it-can’t-be-perfect-it’s-not-worth-doing nature, which resulted in significant martyr complexes, defensiveness, and passive aggression at all levels.”// And it has persisted because //“the only people who last long enough to become staff/board are the people with the highest tolerance for those issues.”//
 [[http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/160548.html?thread=863424804#cmt863424804|Another nonny who joined in 2007]] and helped found a new committee said,
@@ Line 45: / Line 45: @@
 //I have met people who have endured in the OTW for years and they’re either assholes, narcissists or just blithe optimists. The latter comment on meme in the form of grating puppyish earnestness, bless their hearts.//
-Various nonnies pointed out that the OTW seems to value not results but [[http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/159907.html?thread=858062499#cmt858062499|“squee”]] — i.e., [[http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/163351.html?thread=878711831#cmt878711831|deprecating expertise]] because //“enthusiasm is all that’s required to do any job,”// treating the hectic pace of [[w/page/101646031/What%20is%20Yuletide|Yuletide]] as appropriate to [[http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/159907.html?thread=858070691#cmt858070691|everyday operations]], and praising those who put in the most hours regardless of what they accomplish. This leads to //“[[http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/159907.html?thread=858120867#cmt858120867|a martyr complex that runs deep in the org.]] When you don//’t// work 40 hours on OTW stuff, people do criticize you.”// Another nonny [[http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/159907.html?thread=858234019#cmt858234019|complained]] about being harassed for not responding to non-urgent emails immediately. A third said, //“[[http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/159907.html?thread=858337443#cmt858337443|And there's the lovely implying of how much better they'd be at your job.//”//]]// In summary, //“[[http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/159907.html?thread=858284195#cmt858284195|my understanding of the OTW]] is that someone having healthy boundaries is considered not being committed enough to sparkle motion.”// That last statement was [[http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/159907.html?thread=858519203#cmt858519203|validated by a former Board member]].
+Various nonnies pointed out that the OTW seems to value not results but [[http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/159907.html?thread=858062499#cmt858062499|“squee”]] — i.e., [[http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/163351.html?thread=878711831#cmt878711831|deprecating expertise]] because //“enthusiasm is all that’s required to do any job,”// treating the hectic pace of [[Yuletide]] as appropriate to [[http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/159907.html?thread=858070691#cmt858070691|everyday operations]], and praising those who put in the most hours regardless of what they accomplish. This leads to //“[[http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/159907.html?thread=858120867#cmt858120867|a martyr complex that runs deep in the org.]] When you don//’t// work 40 hours on OTW stuff, people do criticize you.”// Another nonny [[http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/159907.html?thread=858234019#cmt858234019|complained]] about being harassed for not responding to non-urgent emails immediately. A third said, //“[[http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/159907.html?thread=858337443#cmt858337443|And there's the lovely implying of how much better they'd be at your job.//”//]]// In summary, //“[[http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/159907.html?thread=858284195#cmt858284195|my understanding of the OTW]] is that someone having healthy boundaries is considered not being committed enough to sparkle motion.”// That last statement was [[http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/159907.html?thread=858519203#cmt858519203|validated by a former Board member]].
 Echoing a comment in the above-mentioned 2013 discussion, [[http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/163322.html?thread=877551098#cmt877551098|a nonny added]] that people with actual expertise in leadership, business, and nonprofits have been driven out of the OTW. //“Astolat & co didn’t like what they had to say and one by one they found ways to make them leave. The worst I heard of was the woman who got dressed down for missing a meeting — because her daughter was in ICU.”// [[http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/163322.html?thread=877553402#cmt877553402|Another nonny]] said they'd heard that experienced coders had been similarly targeted.

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