[Pattern Draft] Circle Communities

[michael-basil]

This pattern follows on from recent presentations with the ISC and many conversations.

This is still in draft while we allow space for final commentary before formally proposing it.

[spier]

@michael-basic I have left various comments inline. As you can tell I am still struggling a bit to understand the direct link between the described concept and InnerSource.

I hope you don't perceive my comments as overly critical. I am only trying to understand how this patterns will help people to improve their InnerSource practices. Therefore I am asking so many questions :)

[spier]

Which term for this concept is most frequently used in the industry?

Just a single personal data point:
I have heard of guilds and community of practice frequently. I had never heard the term circle communities before.

[spier]

Also would Dojo be yet another alias for this?
Or is a Dojo more focused on the collaborative practicing of things?

[michael-basil]

1. "the industry" is pretty subjective ...

If we are talking broadly speaking then if I am taking "the industry" to include communication and change experts when I talk about a "Circle" community they get an idea of where this is going.

I would consider Circle Communities as a subset of Communities of Practice. I have ammended several of the sections per other feedback which should suggest where the distinctions are to merit such a separate designation.

I also have conversations with my new employer about a Guild they have (for Agile) that lacks some of the form and flow of a Circle and they are excited to hear more. I would say that a Circle Community itself is inherently aligned with InnerSource Principles wherase an Agile Circle for example inherets the principles of InnerSource into it's DNA on inception unknowingly.

Moreover, Circle Communties support InnerSource adoption from the bottom up and middle out aligned to top-down or central initiatives whenever they exist and those groups are supportive and willing to engage (always invited). Support it in specific ways not common to Communities of Practice in general.

2. I would not call a Circle an alias for Dojo.

The Dojo metaphor and model carries much different distinctions and social-learning system advanced support. Not all Dojos have Circles, though all Circles could theoretically (if the group desired) spawn and connect to a Dojo learning approach. I would say though that a Circle could spawn different models as well. The SAP Dojo featured Circles whereas the Microsoft DevOps Dojo likely did not (though I cannot be sure as I never met anyone directly part of that unfortuanately, at least not yet).

I decided to close the PR we had for a Dojo pattern to allow the focus to center here on the far more important pattern and to consider revisiting if a Dojo pattern made sense, though there would need to be interest and appetite from the InnerSource Commons Community for this (AND IDEALLY participation from Microsoft DevOps Dojo key person(s)).

The Circle pattern does have affinity and interest from at least one important member who is also listed as an author (you will know the name(s) when you encounter them). Had that not existed I would have closed the pattern.

I would also add that this Circle Communities pattern is ideal for socially oriented DevOps groups and Agilists. Additionally, I would like to have a conversation with Cloud Security Office Hours sometime this year after it is published. Bill and I have presented there in the past and I'm sure he'd be interested and I would love it if someone or multiple people who are with ISC as formal members would participate - but that is not the key point here (just planting an invitational seed for later). I mention this because I believe outreach into other communities is a conversation I have heard Russ talk about a few times.

3. As far as if this pattern is a single or multiple instance?

Yes. More like WHEN and DEPENDING ON what.

Consider it a pattern of flow versus control.

I have seen it where Circles spawn short and medium lived other Circles or long lived Circle-style collaboration zones in different areas of a business unit after experiencing it.

I say that it starts and ends with one circle. This is from one point of view though. Just like a repository codebase there may be multiple "centrals" depending on branching, forking, etc. Same concept here.

Apologies for the length of this I felt it may be of use to give an expansive answer. I hope you'll forgive me if it is taxing!

🙏🌿

[spier]

There is a lot to unpack here :) I will leave this comment open for future reference.

[spier]

@michael-basil One other question:
Is there a difference between a Special Interest Group, and a Circle Community?

Sounds like a SIG might be a more formal concept, while a Circle is more light-weight?

I am asking because there is this FINOS InnerSource SIG and I am wondering if it might be an example of a circle community or not?

[michael-basil]

@spier - I believe I addressed all open comments with some refactoring. Looking forward to hearing how this lands when you come back around to it.

Apologies in advance for one long comment response. I felt it was important to be a bit expansive.

Additionally, a couple of the comments disappeared so I addressed the best I could.

🙏🌿

[billwestfall]

This pattern perfectly encapsulates my experience and use of Circles. Well done @michael-basil !

[spier]

Great job with the last round of changes.

Let's get this merged, and try to find organizations that have implemented this pattern. Hopefully those orgs can then help to harden this pattern even further, and possibly make the connection between Circle Communities and InnerSource even more clear.

Thanks again for your patience and rigor in working through this PR with me.

[michael-basil]

Special thanks to @spier and @Trueblueaddie for helping bridge the gaps here!

Much appreciated! 🙏