User:Noraft/Essays/Noraft Analogy

The Noraft Analogy is a reference to an analogy about inclusionism and deletionism that was made on the Wikimedia Strategic Planning Site while talking about the Wikimedia Foundation's five year strategic plan. The quote is: ''Inclusionism is like "manufacturing" and deletionism is like "quality assurance." And in the business world you rarely have the same people do both, because there is is often a conflict of interest.''

To elaborate, manufacturers have a vested interest in producing goods to be sold, much like editors have a vested interest in producing articles to be read. Some manufacturers produce high quality goods, much like some editors produce high-quality articles. However, some manufacturers produce goods that do not meet quality standards, much like some editors produce articles which do not meet quality standards.

The job of quality assurance personnel is to (1) ensure that the production process produces goods which meet quality standards, (2) to inspect goods after production, and (3) to reject goods which do not meet quality standards.

In virtually all organizations, manufacturing and quality assurance are not the primary responsibilities found in one job description. Manufacturers want to produce more goods, while quality assurance personnel seek to stop production of goods below quality standards. This is why Wikipedia does not allow editors to promote Good or Featured Articles on their own recognizance; a "quality assurance" review is required.

Inclusionists would prefer an article on everything, so that the sum of human knowledge is available for perusal. If quality standards are not met at this time, they may be met in to future (i.e. manufacturing is of primary importance) Deletionists want to maintain a certain standard of quality and would prefer no article to a poorly written/unsourced article on a given topic.

Like manufacturing and quality assurance, both inclusionism and deletionism have a function here on Wikipedia.