Re: [Rfced-future] What went wrong [was Welcome to the romp! A reminder of what I would like us to decide first...]

[Michael StJohns <[e-mail]>]

On 4/1/2020 6:44 PM, Brian E Carpenter wrote:
> On 02-Apr-20 09:54, Doug Royer wrote:
>> Has "what went wrong" been defined? Fixed? I saw a lot of opinions. I don't recall a conclusive resolution or definition.
> I think we should avoid finger-pointing, since it wouldn't serve any useful purpose. So I think that means we should look for structural problems that were the ultimate cause of what went wrong.
I agree with this.  Hopefully, this will be forward looking, and will 
map out changes to create a sustainable structure.
>
> As John Klensin said, an important symptom was people thinking that the RSE was an ordinary contractor with key performance indicators to be measured. Another symptom was that the oversight committee (like the IAOC) was apparently getting far too involved in details. Were there other symptoms?

As a general thought, the technical leadership of the IETF probably 
shouldn't be involved in day-to-day  or even month-to-month management 
of the non-technical portion of the IETF as that's not generally their 
expertise.  A given member of a given I* might have the specific skills 
to do that oversight, but what happens when we do the turnover to a new 
person or a new board?    I think that covers the RSE, RPC, IT, Tools 
and the Secretariat.   Input is needed from these groups - control is not.

Another symptom was the RSOC was not (and is not) responsible to the 
community and there is no way for the community to express its 
displeasure if it runs off the rails.  For the IAB at least, we have the 
annual NOMCOM process and there is the rarely used recall process.

Going back to John's comment.  The RSE contract was structured  - for 
good and useful reasons - as two years plus 2 two-year renewals.  My 
understanding of this was that the renewal periods were proforma and 
there mainly to allow for unforeseen changes in the situations 
(financial or otherwise) of either the IETF or Heather.  It shouldn't 
have been possible for this to change without community discussion.

Mike


>
> Looking at the symptoms, we might be able to discern the structural problems that caused them.
>
>     Brian
>   
>