Late last year I attended a wonderful leadership session that walked us through closing the book on 2022 and preparing ourselves for the opportunities coming in the new year. There were 30 or so leaders representing a vast array of sectors, and in our opening breakout session we were invited to look at a number…
WordPress is Turning 20 in 2023!
In case you hadn’t heard yet, WordPress is about to reach an important milestone. In May this year, the CMS that is the internet’s best kept secret (did you know that we power over 40% of the web?) will be turning 20 years old! There will be a lot of opportunity to celebrate, so don’t…
The Four Os of Meeting Preparedness*
When we’re working across cultures, sometimes the role of an impartial guide through some facts and feelings is the thing we need most.
Is documentation really a DEI* initiative?
Have you ever stopped to ask why documentation gets created? Those little bits of paper that arrive with your latest online purchase or crammed into that IKEA box, those make sense. They are there to tell you how to use the thing in the box. Their primary function is explanatory, but you could argue that…
Dungeons and Dragons for Team Trainings
If you’re not familiar with Dungeons and Dragons (or table top games in general), the best way to describe it is “collaborative story crafting where a group of characters try to solve problems, save folks in trouble, and survive quests that they uncover along the way”. A colleague of mine, Andrea Middleton, once used a…
To my global community: Start Small
When you don’t know where to start, start small, start with what you know, start with people.
State of the Word 2021 | Q&A
It was a treat for me to see some folks in-person and online at Matt Mullenweg’s State of the Word on December 14th. For me, the thrill of his annual keynote is hearing his perspective of the year and what questions it raises in the community. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to all of the questions!…
Finding Solid Ground on Day 591 of N*
*where N=unknown I used to think there was nothing more stressful than being in the midst of a stressful thing. When you’re in the middle of something, it’s all raw and electric and the ways out aren’t always a sure bet. In the past nearly 600 days, I’ve learned that there is something more stressful—being…
Books All Leaders Should Read
There are four books that have shaped the way I approach my work. Any time that a volunteer or team member tells me that they are ready to level up their leadership, I recommend some combination of these books. Recommended Reading In case leadership reading isn’t your favorite, here are the quotes that turned my…
On recent news about the FSF board of directors
I want to take a moment to respond to the recent news of Richard Stallman’s return to the Free Software Foundation’s board. In short, I do not support his return as a board member. It makes me proud that the WordPress project embodies the best traditions of open source and retires outdated traditions, or shibboleths,…