😍(03/01/2024) Meeting Minutes

Recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xeLlvOq-u8w4F39d7cluxTUtLtB06YQc/view

Agenda:

Old Business:

  1. Update from Policy TWG (MPJ, Marcin, CT)

  2. Update on Workflow for the OSPO (Gheorge)

  3. Update from Strategy TWG (Sandip, Bogdan, CT)

New Business:

  1. Moderation Policy (MPJ)

  2. Testing Criteria for Strategy (CT, Gheorge)

For the Strategy:

  • Please know this strategy is around 60% percent done in development and is intended to work with the OSC and the community over March to finalize the additional 40% of it's content to formulate a community developed actionable strategy for Cardano.

Deck Summary:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ohg83n41dckU2otRTLxzTjPiCveEZmzJOntBstaAyxY/edit?usp=sharing

Google doc:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gZIBJwsxaj2SI3E4Bac679WOGI7UX0Ur7bjmSVPFIk8/edit?usp=sharing

Discussion Point

Notes / Action Items

Responsible

Update from Policy TWG: Open Communication and Community Guidelines.

  • Communication Strategy: There seems to be a more explicit communication plan around the project's openness and how stakeholders will be informed. Michael Peyton Jones has drafted a document outlining his thoughts on the matter, which he will share with the group (link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1x5-GkQePpunRETmxr3B9LhLkkGhrupAiKvsNbWoMLBc/edit).

  • Community Guidelines: Concerns were raised regarding potential disruptions from the public in open communication channels. While a code of conduct exists for addressing malicious behavior, additional guidelines might be necessary. These guidelines should emphasize the purpose of the channels and empower project contributors to remove disruptive users.

Note

  • Action Item: Michael Peyton Jones will research existing guidelines from software foundations and draft some initial community guidelines for the project.

  • Action Item: Christian Taylor will set up security policy meetings (if needed).

  • Action Item: Security discussions are still pending. Michael Peyton Jones will schedule meetings to address security concerns.

Introductions

  • Silona Bonewald introduced herself as a subject matter expert in open source hired by Tan to assist with the project (https://www.linkedin.com/in/silona/).

  • Silona has been compiling best practices and standards for open-source projects, including the Osgov standard launched by the Eclipse Foundation (https://projects.eclipse.org/projects/technology.os-gov).

  • She expressed willingness to share her resources and expertise with the group.

  • Michael Peyton Jones acknowledged the value of Silona's systematic approach and existing materials, referencing similar resources from the Eclipse Foundation.

Note

  • Action Item: Silona will share her compiled resources with the team.

@Silona

  • Action Item: Christian Taylor will include Silona in future discussions related to open-source best practices.

  • Security Meetings: Christian Taylor will take the point of scheduling security meetings due to a busy March for Michael Peyton Jones.

  • Action Item: Michael Peyton Jones and Christian Taylor will collaborate on a shortlist of attendees for the security meetings.

Update from Policy TWG: Network Working Group.

  • Update: The first meeting of the Network Working Group has been scheduled for March 11th (exact time to be confirmed).

  • The Network Working Group meeting is the first of several planned working groups to be launched in March.

  • Christian Taylor suggests re-syncing with Ryan and Matt to discuss a client progress update for the working group pilot.

Note

  • Action Item: Marcin Szamotulski will share a link to the meeting invite.

  • Action item: Christian Taylor will help promote the meeting within the community.

Update on Workflow for the OSPO

  • Gheorghe-Aurel Pacurar: Presented an update on OSPO workflow progress for weeks 5 and 9 (Gheorghe and Bogdan covering 2 of the 5 initial positions).

  • Provided a breakdown of Q1 governance and Foundation objectives, including their status (completed, in progress, to do).

  • Highlighted accomplishments, including developing the governance model and structure and initial drafts for open-source strategies and policies.

  • Discussed the GitHub audit for policy alignment and its current status.

  • Michael Peyton Jones: Clarified a concern regarding OSPO governance and its placement within the larger Intersect structure.

  • Gheorghe-Aurel Pacurar: Agreed and explained the various levels of open source within Intersect (OSPO, Intersect open source, Cardano open source).

  • Silona Bonewald: Raised a question about the typical structure of an OSPO within an open-source project and potential challenges with nested structures.

  • Silona Bonewald: Create a glossary of terms to avoid confusion around OSPO, OSC, Intersect, MBO, etc., and address potential misinterpretations.

  • Christian Taylor: Acknowledged the need for a glossary and offered to help develop one. He explained the reduced scope of the Intersect OSPO compared to traditional OSPO models, with some functions outsourced to the broader Intersect organization.

  • Silona Bonewald: Expressed concerns about the potential complexity of the proposed OSPO structure with multiple entities (OSPO, OSC, Intersect). She emphasized the importance of clear communication and avoiding confusion for the audience.

  • Silona Bonewald: Praised GitLab's handbook-first approach for fostering a strong writing culture and clear expectations for employees and the community (https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/about/ ).

  • Michael Peyton Jones: Agreed with the value of GitLab's approach but emphasized the need to balance it with presenting Intersect's open-source efforts as agnostic to employment status or internal contracts.

  • Gheorghe-Aurel Pacurar: Appreciated the feedback and noted the importance of clear definitions within the OSPO documentation.

  • Gheorghe-Aurel PAcurar: Presented a preliminary diagram outlining the overall OSPO structure within the larger Cardano ecosystem.

  • Key components include:

  • Cardano Community: Central to the ecosystem.

  • Welcome Department: Facilitates onboarding and training for new contributors.

  • Integration Process: Manages the integration of existing and new projects, with considerations for existing contracts and open-source committee alignment.

  • Cardano Projects, Open-Source Committees, and Working Groups: Responsible for delivering outputs to Cardano repositories.

  • Cardano Governance Discussion:

  • Adam Dean: Requested clarification on the meaning of "Cardano governance" in the context of the discussion.

  • Silona Bonewald: Offered to answer Adam's question but was interrupted by Gheorghe-Aurel Pacurar.

  • Gheorghe-Aurel Pacurar: Promised to provide a detailed explanation of the governance board within the OSPO design.

  • Integration and Collaboration Efforts:

  • Silona Bonewald: Described ongoing work within the Civics community and with the Catalyst team to develop integrated workflows for product and vision backlog.

  • Silona Bonewald: Highlighted the need for a collaborative tool to facilitate working on diagrams, mirror boards, and other artifacts.

  • Silona Bonewald: Emphasized the importance of a wider communication plan to improve Transparency and information sharing across different groups.

  • Michael Peyton Jones briefly explained the connection between Cardano governance and individual project governance, emphasizing accountability to Intersect and the community through CIP-1694 or similar mechanisms.

  • Gheorghe-Aurel Pacurar added that funding approval is ultimately tied to community voting through the treasury.

  • Adam: Unrelated to current strategy but the earlier discussion r.e. Gheorghe/Silona, I spent ~7 hours yesterday trying to find documentation and define "What is Governance on Cardano and how does a community normie get involved": https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1eysSPDy2MBMS4EPhnp-FKi6K9HabeFL3-WANgwOPynY/edit?usp=sharing

Note

  • Action Item: Develop a glossary of terms related to OSPO, OSC, Intersect, MBO, etc.

  • Action item: Acknowledged the need for further discussion and scheduled a half-hour session next week to delve deeper into the topic.

  • Action item: Christian Taylor will put everything on Discord.

Update from Strategy TWG

  • Sandip Pandey: Acknowledged receiving Bogdan's draft strategy document and having some initial comments. He highlighted the need for further discussion and refinement of the content and specific points.

  • Sandip Pandey: Praised the document structure but emphasized the need to define the content in more detail.

  • Bogdan Coman: Briefly explained his initial approach to strategy development, acknowledging his limited knowledge of the organization upon joining four weeks ago.

  • Bogdan Coman: Highlighted a two-part strategy: defining the overall strategy and a separate strategy for building the main strategy itself.

  • OSPO Strategy Presentation - Bogdan Coman

  • Introduction:

    • Bogdan emphasized the importance of understanding the organization before creating a strategy.

    • He outlined a two-part approach: defining the overall strategy and a separate strategy for building the main strategy itself (meta-strategy).

  • What is Strategy?

    • Bogdan differentiated strategy from action items and objectives.

    • He highlighted strategy as a high-level perspective guiding overall direction.

    • He explained that features and initiatives should be aligned with the strategy.

  • Characteristics of Strategy:

    • Focuses on the "big picture" rather than specific details.

    • The Cardano strategy sits above the open-source strategy, providing overarching direction.

    • The open-source strategy emerges from the Cardano strategy.

  • Building Block Analogy:

    • Strategy development should begin with a strong foundation (mission and vision).

    • Subsequent layers include strategic areas, objectives, and then actions.

  • Open Source Strategy Layers:

    • Mission, vision, and values represent the top layer.

    • Hands-on strategy includes strategy areas and operational strategies.

    • Uncertainty and size of elements decrease when moving from long-term to operational strategies.

  • Detailed Strategy Document:

  • Long-Term Strategy:

    • Core elements include mission, vision, and values.

    • Long-term strategy objectives or goals are derived from strategy pillars.

  • Hands-on Strategy:

    • Strategy pillars (areas) define focus areas.

    • North Star metric (key indicator) is included, with Michael's comments acknowledged.

    • The content within this section is intended to be further populated and refined.

  • Prioritization and Validation:

    • Importance of defining a scoring or prioritization framework for backlog items.

    • Establishing a validation system for evaluating ideas is proposed.

  • Mission and Vision:

    • Existing documents were referenced to formulate the mission and vision statements.

  • Values:

    • A draft set of values is included, with potential for further refinement.

  • Strategy Areas:

    • Each area has proposed actions identified for further development.

    • Alignment with the overall strategy and mission is emphasized.

  • Goals and Objectives:

    • Terminology for "goals" vs. "objectives" is still under discussion.

    • Draft goals are presented for further feedback and refinement.

  • Metrics:

    • Metrics are proposed for alignment with goals and strategy areas.

    • The North Star metric is open for discussion based on Michael's input.

  • Action Items:

    • Importance of clear Definition of Ready (DOR) and Definition of Done (DOD) for tasks.

    • A tooling system for managing and tracking action items is suggested.

  • Next Steps (Clarification by Christian Taylor):

  • The first two weeks of March will focus on committee alignment for Mission, Vision, Values, Strategic Pillars, and Objectives.

  • The last two weeks of March will address the operational strategy associated with the agreed-upon elements.

  • A pilot testing phase is planned to assess the strategy's effectiveness.

Note.

  • Action Items: OSPO Strategy Document

    • Review and Discussion: The group agreed to postpone in-depth discussion of the OSPO strategy document until participants have had a chance to review it. (Action Item: All Participants - Review Google Doc outlining the OSPO strategy: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gZIBJwsxaj2SI3E4Bac679WOGI7UX0Ur7bjmSVPFIk8/edit?usp=sharing)

    • Focused Review: Michael Peyton Jones, Nick (name not mentioned), and Christian Taylor will review comments and focus on key areas within the document.

    • Committee Meetings: OSPO strategy will be the primary focus for committee meetings throughout March.

    • Prioritization: During committee meetings, there will be time to discuss 10-minute high-priority items alongside strategy discussions.

  • Next Steps:

    • Google Doc and Github PR: The OSPO strategy document will be uploaded to GitHub PR and available on Google Docs. This will target a wider audience.

    • Spark Engagement: Christian Taylor will take steps to encourage participation in discussions on Spark (platform not specified).

Testing Criteria for Strategy

Grimoire Lab Setup

Success/Failure Criteria

  • The initial draft of the OSPO strategy will outline success metrics for Cardano within the open-source committee.

  • Conversely, it will define metrics that indicate a lack of progress or negative outcomes.

  • This will serve as a benchmark to assess the strategy's effectiveness.

North Star Metric Discussion

  • Christian Taylor proposed using a graded average of multiple metrics to create a "maturity score" rather than relying on a single North Star metric.

  • This approach aims to reduce the risk of the metric becoming a vanity metric.

Timeline and Iteration

  • The current goal is to have a finalized strategy by the end of March, followed by implementation in April.

  • A one-month review period is planned for May to assess the strategy's effectiveness and adjust as needed.

  • This iterative process will allow for continuous improvement of the OSPO strategy.

Community Feedback

  • Daniel Eduardo Mosquera Pava inquired about possibly including the testing list for public review to gain community feedback.

  • Christian Taylor acknowledged the potential value of this approach and indicated that the strategy would at least be tested with projects under the IOG umbrella.

Building a Positive Culture

  • Adam Dean emphasized fostering a positive and rewarding environment within the open-source community.

  • He suggested acknowledging and celebrating positive contributions rather than punitive measures for shortcomings.

Learning from Other Communities

  • Silona Bonewald suggested establishing open-source communities like the Cast Project for best practices in community health and volunteer engagement.

  • Silona Bonewald highlighted the importance of avoiding metrics focusing solely on easily obtainable data points and neglecting factors like community diversity - (https://cauldron.io/ )

Storytelling for Metrics

  1. Christian Taylor mentioned contacting Diane Miller from Red Hat, who is recommended as a resource for using storytelling to present metrics effectively.

Next Steps

  • Review the meeting minutes and associated documents.

  • Provide feedback and suggestions for improvement on the OSPO strategy.

  • Adam - proposed OSHA (https://www.osha.gov/ )

Note

Action Items:

  • Christian Taylor will post the meeting minutes and link to the testing area document. ([link to testing area document requested])

  • All participants are encouraged to review the OSPO strategy documents and provide feedback.

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