Letter from the Editor

Article by Polson

So it's that time again when someone lets me say whatever I want to the public of OTF. Not as dangerous per se as letting Michiel and Fats within ten feet of innuendo, but still not advisable. By the way, the letter from moi is actually my own personal opinion and if you hate it, feel free to direct your comments to my inbox. Don't hate my team because I'm a loudmouth.

I'm actually going to address the, er, leadership breakdown that happened a monthish ago. Now I'm aware that a lot of folk don't know what exactly happened and at the risk of losing my OTF "job" I'll explain.

For some time, since the switch from Maxwell to HAL, things at OTF have crawled to a stop, most of us have noticed. In part that is due to real life; as they say, real life happens whether you want it to or not. Which is understandable. Also with the server switch being as sudden as it was and as complicated, a lot of time was taken up just dedicated to keeping the site actually functioning. Again, kudos to Iain and HAL for their hard work doing so.

The slowness that occured after these feats is what started to bother some folk. It seemed very much that this new "free hand" system - wherein most Team Leader's had no access to make certain changes due mostly to the hacking of OTF last year - was not working. With little upper managment direction, Team Leaders felt unneeded, unwanted, unsupported and distrusted. Naturally it came to a head where people began to come forward and verbalize their frustrations, as well as present solutions. Thus began a great big email war, which flowed into the forums and msn.

Now I don't feel the need to go into detail of what was said, I'm just giving you the background in order for my following comments to make sense. The root of the problem according to Polson as it were. And the winner is...communication. communication is the law of relationships, regardless of what kind or with whom.

There are two ways this problem could have been resolved before it blew up the way it did. A. Leadership. Now it's dangerous to point fingers at leadership because if they can't take it, then you lose important body parts, but that's not my intention. No matter who the leader is or in what society or organization, if you're not willing to communicate consistantly and thoroughly what you expect, what you need, what you want, what you intend, etc. etc. then you will have uproar. Ultimatly the buck stops at the CiC and when the yo-know-what hits the fan, it's his responsibility. I've been a leader myself, and I know this. I dare say HAL knows it, and that Iain knows it. You're nuts if you think they're sitting there going, "There is nothing we could have done differently to ensure the Team Leader blow up never happened." Just because they don't wander into your forum thread or MSN conversation and tell you that doesn't mean it's not true. B. The Team Leaders. Before the straw broke the camel's back there was nothing valid preventing people from going to their leaders privately to express their concerns. I did this to a degree but I feel that I didn't do enough. I think the original email that broke the dam as it were was bang on, justified and full of positive solutions - in retrospect I just think it should have been sent to HAL and Iain first. Ultimatly, no matter what role or position you play in OTF, you are responsible for communicating your own concerns appropriately.

That said, there are two ways the situation could have been resolved after the blow up. Which in fact did happen regardless of how some people think it played out. Granted it happened later than it should have, but better late than never. A. Leadership. No I'm not going to repeat myself. I'm going to call leadership to the carpet now. Leadership is accountable to the people they are leading. They always say, when you're in front it's best to glance back once in a while and see if anyone's following you. They say that leadership reflects attitude. It's all true. If there is a problem, it's leadership's problem. And it's their responsibility to listen up, pay attention and consider the validity of the cries below them. That's the second half of communication. Listening. B. Team Leaders. I already called us to the carpet above. Now I'm just going to throw out there that as much as it is leadership's responsibility to listen, it's ours. To each other, to our leaders, to the general populace of OTF. And it's our job to relay what we hear to leadership. They count on us whether they want to or not to know what the people of OTF want and need.

OTF might just be a chatroom but we're still a community of people who work together, play together and engage together.

Not just another IP,

Polson
_{Blue Report Editor}