get as far as we have as a project largely by luck rather than deliberate direction. Our community, for its lack of clarity, has struggled with a cohesive strategy as a result. A few of us in Node.js decided to do something about it. Many nonprofit organizations seek assistance with strategic planning...a successful strategic planning project requires that there first be clarity and agreement on the organization’s mission or purpose. This includes a mission, vision, and values. We have many different stakeholder groups–the Foundation represents this to a fair extent and seeks to grow representing that more accurately and effectively. As we run through this practice with many different groups, making a venn diagram of shared values will hopefully represent the true core values of the Node.js community, from its ecosystem of communities. At it's core, Node.js is a collection of people working towards a shared goal. Improving people's lives. This can be done through making software faster, it can be done by making empathetic APIs. This can be done by making a reliable platform, it can be done by being kind to each other. We work to improve the lives of the many individuals on this planet who rely on Node.js. We work to improve the lives of the many individuals on this planet who help make Node.js possible. - Myles Borins, TSC Director
technology community. Node.js has relied on implicit understanding of expectations of our community members. We need to document these expectations so we can work effectively together and empower all members to act in the best interests of Node.js. Node.js is a massive project with global impact on the technology community. Node.js has relied on implicit understanding of expectations of our community members. We need to document these expectations so we can work effectively together and empower all members to act in the best interests of Node.js. Core values are used to guide every aspect of an organization. They are enablers for action to allow us to grow while maintaining alignment.
organization. They are enablers for action to allow us to grow while maintaining alignment. Core values are used to guide every aspect of an organization. They enable action and allow us to grow in alignment with one another. These values consist of a few behavioral traits, usually 2-3, that are inherent in an organization. Core values lie at the heart of the organization’s identity. It can be far more challenging to establish these traits after an organization is moving along rather than building an organization up that embodies a set of values, but that isn’t a luxury we have now. We’ll work with what we’ve got and improve from here! And like most open source, it is living. The values documented will change and evolve. Values serve as the boundaries within which the organization will operate in pursuit of its vision. It is critical to distinguish between core values (those on which the organization will never compromise and is willing to pay a price to uphold) and aspirational values (those that the organization espouses, but has yet to live up to in day-to-day operations). To be meaningful, values must be described in clear terms.
the organization will operate in pursuit of its vision. It is critical to distinguish between core values (those on which the organization will never compromise and is willing to pay a price to uphold) and aspirational values (those that the organization espouses, but has yet to live up to in day-to-day operations). To be meaningful, values must be described in clear behavioral terms. For this initiative, we want as many perspectives from a representative group of the Node.js global community as we can muster. At Collaborators’ Summit October 2017, most of the participants were existing collaborators, Board Directors, project leadership, and excited-to-contribute community members. After we talk about the practical steps of how we ran this instance of the workshop, we’ll talk about how we can capture a wider range of input to get a high fidelity look at Node.js community values. It is essential in running these types of workshops to encourage input from every single participant. In order to enable sharing, we have to minimize the criticism and maximize hearing big ideas. In design thinking, this work gets called divergence and convergence. Answer questions for instruction: Lots of yes. No “no”ing. Encourage and embrace the ideas. Be honest. We diverge on big ideas and then converge on the patterns that emerge. Repeated ideas are okay! Tally these or write them down more than once. Next, we give the small tables 20 minutes to write down everything they can think of about values in Node.js. We heard so many questions. That’s exactly what should happen!(What IS a value? Can it be a technical value? Is it supposed to be my personal value I think Node.js has or what I have observed? What if someone else already mentioned it?) The answer to almost all of this is: “Talk through this with your table. Generally speaking, write it on a sticky note!” Move up to a wall that is large enough to spread out the values(or use an online program like mural.ly), and instruct everyone to place them up on the wall. As more are placed, start grouping them by theme and repeated words. Don’t stack them. It is powerful to visualize how big a cluster of a value can be! Step back, pause, and observe(oh and take pictures!).
document our process, publish and share. We need to do this in our other groups, like the Board of Directors, Foundation staff, as well as community members who may not be present today.
reports and see the overlap. Our hope is to run these exercises and encourage others to at events around the globe over the next 6 months. By facilitating these sessions, you’re contributing to the future direction of Node.js and reaffirming to others that they have a voice in the community.
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