Removing assumptions and crafting a Statement of Values as a path towards clarity of mission and practice in community governance.

Our current Code of Conduct is a mix of idealism and practice. If we are to be a community based on values, or principles, or ideals–and maybe we’re not–we need to say so. We need to discover what those values are and express them in actionable, ways. A Statement of Values would give us an instance, something concrete to reference when we talk about the “who we are” part of Drupal.

With that in hand, we’d have a powerful tool to help us create a separate, new Code of Conduct (and/or structures, procedures, rules, documentation) based on those values expressed in the Statement of Values. This new CoC (or whathaveyou) could help us to act predictably, consistently, and in accordance with our agreed values.

I recently conducted a survey of our community to get an idea of what our shared values and priorities might be. In this session, I present results and insights I gained from the hundreds of answers the survey’s respondents provided and use them to propose the outlines of a Statement of Values and a way forward towards a clearer community identity.