On any level in any organization, there are clear advantages to maintaining flexibility in its operating procedures. The wider organizational wisdom dictates that, at times, the Open Compute Project take advantage of such flexibility.
A prevalent discussion after the OCP Leadership Day in Austin revealed that the organization still has a lot of processes to put in place. This revelation was compounded, in a manner of timing, by the recent role change of Cole Crawford to Evangelist and the addition of Corey Bell as OCP's new CEO.
It was suggested by current leadership to keep everyone intact for at least another year. The reasoning submitted was that an annual turn was not enough time to figure out the role. It takes at least 6 months to understand the inner workings of the role and expectations, then there are only another few months to actually get work done before elections. The leadership asked that we make no changes to the Project Lead or IC leadership until 2016.
The board agreed to this proposal.
The reason is simple: The combination of building a cohesive leadership team while currently working out all the processes provides an governing stability upon which to build a more solid organizational foundation. With this foundation firmly in place, elections in 2016 should be held in accordance with the governance procedures outlined in the OCP wiki.
The current leadership has been asked to stay on until the 2016 election, and the OCP Foundation can confirm by early this week if everyone is staying put. Should a member decide that he or she cannot stay, a special election will be held for the vacated seat.
It goes without saying – yet it bears constant repeating – that the wider organization is profoundly grateful to the OCP leadership for the work it puts in to maintain the organization's ecosystem. The foundation thanks and salutes you for your efforts.
Additionally, and more importantly, the foundation and the OCP leadership thank the wider membership for its understanding as procedures and processes crystallize into a more consistent form as we move forward.