[IAEP] Mailing list consensus techniques.

[David Farning]

There are several passionate threads happening on various SL mailing
lists.  As we push through these discussion I would like remind
participants about a couple of tactics I have learned for successfully
building a consensus on a mailing list.

1. Never take (or make) it personal.  Passion is good.  But always
focus on the issues.

2.  Focus on educating others.  There will be vocal minorities who
don't understand what you are saying.  But for the most part people
are listening and learning.

3. Rather than finding faults in specific posts, create a series of
impersonal 'summary' threads.

4.  No single issue or decision is a show stopper.   As long as Sugar
Labs sticks to a cycle of "exploration through implementation,
collaboration, and reflection, the project and any products based on
the platform will improve.

5.  Try not to post more than once a day to a thread. Quality of
thought is more effective then quantity or volume of words.

david