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Re: Substantial nomcom procedure updates (Was: Re: Consolidating BCP 10 (Operation of the NomCom))

2014-09-16 00:35:31
On 9/15/14 8:55 PM, Michael StJohns wrote:
Mostly I think its about too large a representation by large
organizations, regardless of their individual foci of commercial,
educational, international or state goals.   As a matter of
pragmatism, the folks we select for our leadership positions tend to
come from large organizations, simply due to the level of support
necessary for a participant to be successful in an IETF leadership
position.  Changing the selection process for the composition of the
Nomcom is realistically NOT going to change that tendency.  What
modification of the selection process should do is reduce one of the
enablers for oligarchical organizational behavior - specifically like
selecting like.

I think that's correct, and addressing it requires more structural
changes than we're likely to be able to implement any time soon.
But.  I do think there's value in having leadership come from companies
competing with each other, if we're limited to having the leadership
come from large vendors.  It's not only because it helps diffuse
influence, but also because they can be very different organizationally,
and that can be useful (different decision-making and management styles,
for example).

Melinda