‘Reflections on the Q2 Mozilla Work Week: From the MoFo Learning Networks Side’
Let’s think about the internet.
Now let’s think about change.
These are both fluid yet giant concepts that (can when used as tools) build great products, empower people, and create value for those that embrace them, “the users”. With nearly 3 billions users online, and another 5 on the way (altogether around 100% of the world’s population), it’s time to add people to the equation.
internet + change + people = what?
Well, influence for one thing. That’s why, when a company like Mozilla with 350 million+ users wants to use its influence for good, it’s going to attract some attention. But we also know that when you’re looking at something as powerful as the internet, piloting change for the people isn’t easy. To quote Chris Beard, “Piloting change, moving forward… is hard.” Also, let’s face it, though impressive, 350 million boils down to around 5% of all the people.
What if only 5% of all the humans on Earth think that an open internet that keeps people, product, and values as the driving force to the future (Mitchell Baker) is the leading priority? SHIT.
It’s no surprise then that it’s been a “rocky path to unified leadership,” (Baker) to get a little internet company called Mozilla into its “New 3rd Age.” Since dominating the market, Cloud, Social, and Data has given the Mozillians a hefty chunk of frontier space to catch up on. But, according to Baker, if “Space (the new frontier) is different, so must be the product. And we are going to Space!” Aspirational, yes. An abused metaphor throughout the week, yes. A rallying cry for the Mozilla Foundation? Yes.
This thought was echoed by David Robertson (Norton School of Business for LEGO) that in business with huge diversity, but with only a few essential elements, that Mozilla can and must broaden its relationship with the market with 1) Story and 2) Product. He challenged all Mozillians to consider what the world would miss if they were gone. For LEGO, it was ‘the Brick.’
Coupled with Chris Beard’s comments that “we need to keep the internet open (for people),” and that “people are living increasingly mobile lives (so we have to build mobile products),” seemed to spark the entire Mozilla Foundation (MoFo) community into action. Remember, LEGO says think about 1) Story and 2)Product. Marc Surman further stirred the soup by adding, “Millions of Facebook users don’t know they’re using the internet.”
Now we see where MoFo comes in, which Jono Bacon slam dunks in a (later) talk:
Stop, let’s review:
- Values, Product, People = the Future
- the New Frontier (Space) = Cloud, Social, and Data
- First: Story; Second: Product
- Find Your “Brick”
Now then, in the last 18 months, MoFo has undergone some “tremendous change.” 30 people have left out of the 3 remaining teams across the organization and in that tumult they have somehow continued to create visibility in the public eye, but have (perhaps) lost sight of their own “North Star.”
Currently, MoFo is represented in the following focus areas:
- Fellows/Advocacy
MoFo Leaders
Build in the Open
Mentors
- Inclusion
Engage the 5 billion coming online
Find out what it is we don’t know
- Fundraising
The Drumbeat for “One Mozilla”
Unify products and learning to create social currency
- Relationships
The Public: support digital literacy basics
Leaders: Improve skills; give back to the community
Partnerships/Allies: What is it that Mozilla provides? What does it need from others?
- Web Literacy 2.0 (An-Me)
Web-Lit Map
21st C. Skills Map
helping diverse groups understand why this is important
- “Universal Web Literacy” (David Asher)
how can marketing, brand, and tools build on “human universals” (eg- inclusion) to catalyze participation in the open?
Mozilla-wide
How to implement ‘action at a distance’
no funding
consideration for diversity
From these 6 groups, each are driven by one question: “How can Universal Web Literacy empower people to participate?” So, from this we can assume a few things.
- That there is a space for opportunity
- That there are individuals and groups ready to participate
- That MoFo can help inform the work
(values, people, product kind of)
From these six groups emerge Work Week Teams: Product, Fellows, Fundraising, Strategic Planning, Participation, and Mozilla Learning Network. Think of it this way, if we can learn from the Environmental Movement that has mobilized people from all over the world to care about keeping the Earth healthy, then Mozilla is striving to do the same for the Open Web. (“Keep it wild and free!”) This can mean more than just Net Neutrality and Privacy, though MoCo/MoFo will utilize these themes and driving campaigns to sell product and ideology. For certain partners, this can act as a label of quality or ideals, like an “Organic Certification.” Are you working toward Universal Web/Digital Literacy? Do you practice in the Open? Is your learning Social? (Cloud, Data, Social) Then think about working with MoFo! Easy right?
So again, PAUSE. The Participation Team says, “MoFo, we must now start to solve problems in real time.” and asks us, “What will participation in the Mozilla 3rd Phase look like?”
PLAY
Timeline to reaching the “3rd Phase Vision”
- 3 year process
- take the next 9 months to figure out what to say to the board
- consolidate the MoFo web presence
- Build curriculum for Moz.Teach & Fellows
- Do some ‘market research’ around the MoFo constituency (for example)
- find out where the constituency stand on credentials?
- does volunteering with MoFo get you a job (if you want one) or build skills (if you’re already a professional in the field)?
(…this isn’t really a timeline, they are GOALS for the next 3 years, but we can talk about that in a different conversation — )
In logic, it looks like this: If we___________ + then we will __________ + ultimate outcome _________+ key indicator of process:__________________
Take a look at this in action here.
Here’s what we were able to bring to the table to start answering the above prompt:
MoFo Is…
- able to catalyze participation
- trying to build career pathways
- create access
- a brand
- creates visibility
- is an advocate for the Open Web
- wants to build sustained engagement
- made up of different groups (see the six above)
In order to help reduce the “friction created by nuance”, the Learning Networks Team (or MLN) split up to examine the following and help write the MLN Story:
- Purpose
- People
- Programs
- Presence
And after 2 days, this is what we came up with:
Purpose
“The Mozilla Learning Network cultivates diverse communities of web literacy leaders who are connected globally but act locally to teach others how to read, write and participate on the web.”
remix: Mozilla Learning Network cultivates web literacy leaders who advance reading, writing and participation on the web.
Activities that support the Purpose statement:
[READ]
Provide language, tools, experiences, and community to demystify the web
[WRITE]
Build skills and confidence that give people agency to write the web
[PARTICIPATE]
Grow a community of leaders through multiple entry points to participation
Measures [rough]
[READ]
Robust offerings and events at teach.mozilla.org
[WRITE]
More contributors to our open knowledge base and resources
[PARTICIPATE]
Our relationships with leaders result in life outcomes they say they value
Included with the Purpose Statement was a short description of An-Me’s work, underpinning 21st C. Skills to the Web Literacy Map; think of these as the primary tools to help teach digital literacy, a “step one” to the (eventual) greater participation map.
People
Next, we thought about who the main audience and contributors would be in a Mozilla Learning Network. It’s of note that we are first looking at the Cultivation of Leaders, such as Fellows and members of other Networks whose work aligns with that of the MLN.
You can see here a few exemplars of what those personas look like:
Programs
Then, we considered simplifying (or clarifying) some of the language we use to describe Network Stakeholders. For instance, Maker Party = the Campaign to promote Web Literacy.
Then, after many drafts we landed on this:
Disclaimer: This is the simplest version! The task at hand was to create a story you could tell to a child. The movement implied is representative of Campaign Channels and Messages (Such as Maker Party, Privacy, and Product ((People, Values, Product…)) ), but does not currently visualize movement from outside MLN nor within the Network itself.
At the heart of this “most challenging” task, it became evident that the need for a strategic plan between MoFo and MoCo is not only necessary, but should be effective immediately. For example, MozFest may not be the most productive place for MoFo/MoCo teams to communicate for the first time. For instance, what a great opportunity is being missed by not building in messages about MLN into the product itself?
We also hear echoes of an unmentioned theme, “Act Local, Impact Global.” An oldie that still has lessons to teach, right? It is clear that Mozilla is invested in cultivating leaders, but outside of Clubs and Fellows is a bit unclear how partners (generically lumped into “Networks” here) can act on their initiative yet.
Moreover, it is difficult to visualize authentic participation without a means (or even real understanding) to communicate the serious time it takes to enable it. But again, different conversations for a different day.
Presence
What work is supposed to get done between now and MozFest (October)?
My hope, after 3(ish) days of building a narrative map of this kind is that we, the Learning Networks Team, managed to build a story that is clear and gives Mozillians goals that are not just moonshots, but tasks that will be delegated.
- Facilitate Feedback from Stakeholders
find out what they need from us
find out what they want to give back
- Manage Partnerships & Build New Ones
“don’t fight your competition/funders, date them!”
- Fundraise through a unified Mozilla
- Build Content & Organize entry points for newcomers/outsiders
sustain engagement
don’t lose momentum
- Advocate
for learning
for privacy
for the open web
for science
for product (and product will advocate back)
And the Brick? Maybe it’s “Open.” That’s what I hope, because there’s plenty of room (not to mention a hefty learning curve) for learning and making and building and socializing and diversity within Open. But like LEGO, huge diversity does not mean an equal number of elements, and if MoCo/MoFo leadership can delegate the tasks at hand, facilitate truly participatory channels, and lift its products to lead by example (while looking good and functioning properly) then maybe we can catalyze participation in the open. Maybe we can make a place in the new frontier. #internet
