It's Time for Another Pivot!  ## Metadata - Author: [[Oliver Sild]] - Full Title: It's Time for Another Pivot! - Category: #articles - Document Note: --- tags: - #opensource - #community - #leadership Author: Oliver Sild Source: https://oliversild.com/its-time-for-another-pivot/ Reference: Online article, published July 2025 date created: 2025-07-21 13:45 --- # Title: 🌀 It's Time for Another Pivot ## Table of Contents: - [📝 Summary](#-summary) - [📖 Main Content](#-main-content) - [🗒️ Notes](#-notes) - [📖 References](#-references) - [🗣️ Paraphrase](#-paraphrase) - [📰 Newsletter](#-newsletter) - [✅ Action Items](#-action-items) - [🧪 Hypotheses](#-hypotheses) - [📊 Methodology](#-methodology) - [❓ Questions](#-questions) - [🔮 Future Research](#-future-research) - [💡 Implications](#-implications) - [🧠 Learning Styles Assessment](#-learning-styles-assessment) - [📊 Accessibility Assessment](#-accessibility-assessment) - [🌍 DEIB Assessment](#-deib-assessment) - [✅ Logical validity](#-logical-validity) - [🔍 DARVO Analysis](#-darvo-analysis) - [🔍 SEO Evaluation](#-seo-evaluation) - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) ### References: Include a list of sources consulted and cited in the article. - Oliver Sild, "It's Time for Another Pivot", 2025, https://oliversild.com/its-time-for-another-pivot/ - Related posts and community discussions linked within the article. ## 📝 Summary: Oliver Sild reflects on the need for strategic pivots in the life of open-source projects and communities. He discusses the challenges of growth, the fatigue that can arise from continual efforts, and the importance of adaptability to sustain engagement and relevance. The article emphasizes honest self-assessment, openness to change, and prioritizing community needs over rigid attachment to past approaches. It also touches on the psychological effects of burnout and the necessity for leaders to embrace new directions courageously. ## 📖 Main Content: Oliver Sild opens by recognizing the exhaustion many contributors and leaders feel after long periods of intense work. He frames pivoting not as a sign of failure but as a necessary and healthy response to evolving circumstances. The article underscores how open source communities often get stuck in “success traps” — continuing familiar activities without evaluating their current impact or alignment with goals. He argues for systematic reflection on both successes and failures to identify when a pivot is needed. This includes understanding changing community dynamics, technological shifts, and funding realities. Importantly, Sild encourages leaders to embrace vulnerability by admitting when something isn’t working, which can inspire renewed energy and innovation. The author also warns against clinging to past identities or strategies for emotional reasons. This tendency, he says, can cause stagnation and burnout. Instead, pivoting allows for reinvention and opens doors to new collaborations, models, and community structures that better fit the current environment. Oliver closes with a call to action for project leaders and contributors to cultivate resilience through flexibility. He promotes transparency with communities during transitions and stresses that pivots, when communicated well, can strengthen trust and collective motivation. ## 🗒️ Notes - **Recognition of burnout and fatigue:** - Contributors often reach exhaustion after prolonged efforts. - Burnout leads to loss of motivation and productivity decline. - **Pivoting as positive change:** - Not a failure, but strategic adaptation. - Encourages innovation and prevents stagnation. - **Success traps in open source:** - Continuing activities without re-evaluation. - Risk of ignoring new community needs or tech shifts. - **Importance of reflection:** - Honest assessment of impact, successes, failures. - Engage community feedback and data analysis. - **Emotional attachment to legacy strategies:** - Can hinder necessary change. - Leads to resistance and community fragmentation. - **Vulnerability and leadership:** - Admitting need for change builds trust. - Leaders modeling adaptability inspire followers. - **Transparency during transition:** - Clear communication reduces anxiety. - Fosters shared ownership of new direction. - **Building resilience:** - Flexibility as a core value in open source culture. - Promotes sustainable contributor engagement. - **New opportunities unlocked:** - Pivots enable fresh collaborations and funding models. - Reinvents project relevance and sustainability. ## 📖 References: - Oliver Sild’s original article: https://oliversild.com/its-time-for-another-pivot/ - Related community discussions on open source sustainability and burnout. ## 🗣️ Paraphrase: 1. *Original:* “Pivoting is not an admission of defeat but a celebration of adaptation — a way to stay relevant and energized when the world around us shifts.” *Paraphrased:* Changing direction isn’t about giving up; it’s about embracing change and keeping momentum as external conditions evolve. 2. *Original:* “When leaders show their human side — admitting uncertainty or mistakes — they create a space for others to innovate and share ownership of the journey.” *Paraphrased:* Leaders who reveal their vulnerabilities encourage creativity and collective responsibility within their communities. ## 📰 Newsletter: 🚀 **Open Source Update: Navigating Change with Courage** In this issue, we explore why pivoting is essential for thriving in open source. Oliver Sild reminds us that adapting to new realities is a sign of strength, not weakness. Contributors often face burnout, but by embracing strategic pivots, communities can revitalize their energy and focus. Transparency and vulnerability from leaders play a crucial role in guiding these transitions. We’ll also spotlight tools for self-assessment and reflection, so your projects stay aligned and sustainable. Stay tuned for tips on leading with resilience and fostering trust in your teams. Keep innovating! [Read the full article here](https://oliversild.com/its-time-for-another-pivot/) ## ✅ Action Items: - Integrate this article’s themes into training materials for open-source leadership, focusing on pivot strategies and burnout prevention. - Develop community surveys or feedback loops to identify when project pivots may be necessary. - Promote open communication channels to normalize vulnerability among contributors and leaders. - Use examples from the article to advocate for flexible governance models in WordPress and broader open-source projects. - Align pivot discussions with sustainability and contributor engagement initiatives in my GoDaddy Developer Advocate role. - Prepare talks or workshops on recognizing and managing burnout in tech communities, drawing on article insights. - Leverage article’s focus on transparency to enhance trust-building strategies in OSPO leadership aspirations. ## 🧪 Hypotheses: - Projects that regularly assess community needs and pivot accordingly show higher contributor retention. - Transparent leadership admitting challenges reduces burnout symptoms among contributors. - Communities that embrace flexible governance models adapt better to technological shifts. ## 📊 Methodology: - Conduct longitudinal surveys across multiple open-source projects tracking pivot frequency and contributor engagement. - Perform qualitative interviews with project leaders about pivot experiences and leadership vulnerability. - Analyze project metadata (commits, issues, discussions) pre- and post-pivot for impact on activity and morale. ## ❓ Questions: - What measurable indicators best signal the need for a pivot in open-source projects? - How can leaders balance stability and change without alienating contributors? - What are effective communication strategies to minimize anxiety during pivots? ## 🔮 Future Research: - Study psychological impacts of pivots on contributor communities in different open-source ecosystems. - Investigate the role of funding changes as a trigger for project pivots. - Explore models for scalable and inclusive pivot governance. ## 💡 Implications: - Res - Summary: Sometimes, when things aren't working out, a change is necessary. This happened already once in 2021, and today, another pivot is needed. - URL: https://oliversild.com/its-time-for-another-pivot/  Sometimes, when things aren't working out, a change is necessary. This happened already once in 2021, when we pivoted WebARX into Patchstack. This pivot was the most important decision we made for the company. We chose one problem to solve that we knew we had the best solution for and ruthlessly removed every other distraction. This helped us overcome stalled growth, reach 1M+ ARR, and secure a $5M Series A investment. **Today, another pivot is needed.** ##### But.. it's not what you think I'm not talking about another rebrand or a product change to a new problem or customer. This time, it's about myself. *A founder pivot.* It's about realigning energy and focus as a founder and making sure you're always one step ahead in personal growth compared to the company's growth. The Oliver the company needed when it was 3 people (Me, my wife, and Dave) is different from the Oliver the company needs that has 35 employees in 18 different countries. So, as a founder, I need to know when to pivot myself to adapt to the new needs that the company has. This is what we do as founders all of the time. We execute, learn, adapt all over and over again. This process is what makes building startups so much fun. Every day, you build, you break, you learn. ##### Building yourself to build the company When founders build companies, it's where the majority, if not all the attention goes to. Founders also build a lot of character in this process and learn a lot from failures and fast experimentation. However, as the company grows, less time becomes available to reflect and build yourself in this process. When the founder's personal growth is slowing down compared to the company's growth, it will ultimately lead to problems. What founders have to do in this situation is pivot, exactly as they would pivot their company when needed. Pivoting attention and removing distractions. Pivoting the way they spend their energy. **Pivoting to grow faster** *(first yourself, then the company)***!** ##### "Do you even pivot, bro?" First and most importantly, acknowledging it creates room to bring attention back from daily grind to personal growth. It's about reflection and being intentional about change. It's about knowing what you want and then going after it.  I could start by spending less time on doom scrolling to read more books. Pivot my eating habits and start working out at least 3 times a week to have more energy. Spend more meaningful time with family and make new friends. I'm still figuring out how exactly I need to *pivot*, but I found myself thinking about this when I went for a walk with my dog Lilly earlier this morning. As founders, we need to reinvent ourselves all of the time. It's so common we don't even think about it much. But I think we should! And approaching it as a *personal pivot* is an idea I fell in love with. Have you ever pivoted yourself? Would you right now?, It's Time for Another Pivot!, Oliver Sild, 01k0q0aegxse9xyjmp2r18ce8x.