JoomlaLeaks

Currently you would be hard-pressed to find those contentious discussions though you would find some significant holes in the discussions where responses were made to individuals but you can't find the individual's original post. In my case, I asked that all of my posts be removed from JPeople as the leadership of OSM and a few selected other's chose to continuously attack my motives for posting a question or in the case of the admin of JPeople insisted I was being repetitive and as a result closed the discussion. Possibly the best example in the remaining discussions (Note how many have been started by OSM and seem to have no responses) is this discussion. By examining this discussion you can see how someone who is interested in exploring the issues is shut down after a very short time and then simply not responded to. Yet OSM representatives can't figure out why the posters then get repetitive trying to get a response.

The previous discussions on JoomlaLeaks were all issues raised with the OSM board on JPeople (with the exception of these four blogs):

• http://www.joomlaleaks.com/component/k2/item/6-what-has-the-open-source-matters-report-in-the-joomla-community-magazine-have-to-do-with-osm?.html
• http://www.joomlaleaks.com/component/k2/item/5-is-it-really-time-to-change-the-joomla-project-organizational-structure?.html
• http://www.joomlaleaks.com/component/k2/item/4-open-source-matters-inc-and-a-non-board-member-assistant-treasurer.html
• http://www.joomlaleaks.com/component/k2/item/2-how-did-open-source-matters-inc-end-up-with-an-assistant-secretary-of-the-board?.html

You won't find them discussed in the OSM group on JPeople with the exception of this attempt by Jennifer Marriott.

It seems that those members of OSM who manage the JPeople group site for OSM have really adopted the following mantra by Aristotle rather then the published one:

Criticism is something you can easily avoid by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.

Not to say that I am perfect in providing criticism to OSM and the leadership team. I am not. Sometimes I get snarky when I shouldn't and obviously in those circumstances some understanding from those I am criticising might go a long way to correct my slips next time. But meanwhile I have some suggestions for the OSM group when receiving criticisms:

• Consider the source. If you receive criticism from a long time Joomla user, perhaps a former board member or forum moderator or developer who has contributed to the project, you should definitely consider their criticism.
• Shut your trap and listen. Fight the urge to argue with the person or explain the mistake, and just listen to your critic. You’d be surprised what you can learn if you simply soak it in.
• Don’t take it personally. Don’t take the criticism as a personal attack on you.
• Stay calm. The goal in criticism is to keep as much of your emotions out of it as possible.  Let your critics know you understand their concern and thank them for taking the time for bringing it to your attention.
• Ask clarifying questions. Make sure you’re on the same page with your critic by asking clarifying questions. By asking questions, you create dialogue between you and your critic, which in turns fosters co-operation and an atmosphere for mutual improvement.
• Take ownership of the mistake. When someone brings a legitimate mistake to your attention, don’t get on the defensive and start making excuses for it.
• Change your perspective on criticism.Instead of seeing criticism as humiliating or embarrassing, view it as an opportunity to improve yourself. Winston Churchill had this to say about criticism:

  Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.

• Thank your critic. Always thank your critic. They took the time to sit down with you and point out areas where you can be improvement. The least you can do is say thanks.
• Take action and follow up. After you've received the criticism, take action immediately. After you've taken action, make sure to follow up with your critic and let them know how you've rectified the problem. This shows that you actually listened to the criticism and respected what the person had to say.

 I would love to see a change in JPeople both in the OSM group and overall where community members are encouraged to provide criticism and leadership actually listened rather then shutting the critics down.