Re: design teams (was Re: v 1.2, IETF material)

[Dave Crocker <[e-mail]>]

Frank,

    let's get the main ietf/iesg/iab re-org done. then we can tackle design
    teams. there are only 24 hours in each day and some of us would like to

When I read your note, last night, I felt it to be a reasonable
request.  In the cold (by local standards) light of morning, I think
otherwise.  Here's why:

Public debate leading into the IAB/IESG/IETF organizational
changes proposed at the IETF focussed quite heavily on frustrations
with the IAB.  But there are, I believe, other frustrations that
are serious, frequent, and likely to surface with a vengence.  The IESG
spends much of its time managing the "process" of IETF working groups.
It simply doesn't have enough time to do as much of this as is occurring
already.  With its new responsbililities, I believe it essential to
help working groups do their stuff _much_ more crisply than often
occurs, now.

(Many, and maybe most, working groups do just fine and don't need any
of this wonderful help I'm suggesting.)  But having just spend several
month participating in one working group that found the contributions
of a design team to cause difficulty rather than assistance, and
having watched the rather public discomfort about the SMP/SNMPv2 
process, I think we need to come to grips with this issue sooner,
not later, so that working groups and design teams can know their
bounds, rights, and responsibilities. 

Dave