@dotstdy I feel this is both true and false. Yes if you turn up unannounced and dump a lot of code or big changes on maintainers you're unlikely to get anywhere unless one or more of the maintainers just so happens to already be enthusiastic for it.
And maintainers absolutely will have strong opinions on at least some areas of their project (either individually or collectively) so poking at those areas will require convincing as well as doing.
But on the other hand OSS (in my experience) is reliant on people showing up and doing. Things literally don't get done otherwise because the maintainers simply don't have the time or even are borderline burnt out. So it is possible to steer projects, to a degree, by doing (or selectively not doing).
Heck, showing up and doing is often how maintainers are made (and often how they burn out).