Re: [council] Theresa Swinehart on the Creation of the President's Global Advisory Groups

["Mike O'Connor" <mike@xxxxxxxxxx>]

hi all,

i believe the official phrase from the Junior Space-Rangers Management Handbook 
is "it’s better to beg forgiveness than ask permission” and i agree with Avri 
and Maria — that’s an approach that only works once in a while.  another phrase 
from that same Handbook reads “the beatings will continue until morale 
improves.”  

on a more serious note, i think one way to make sense out of what is going on 
is to compare the tension between the community and the administration with the 
tension that exists between the faculty and the administration of an 
institution of higher education.  i still have lumps in my head from when i 
learned these lessons the hard way.

- faculty (community) should be careful not to run the institutional 
infrastructure 

- administration should be careful not to deliver the core mission

- talk in advance when it is not clear who should be taking the lead

- everybody should know whether the Board is active or passive and react 
appropriately

we’re pretty seriously out of tolerances on all four of these right now, in my 
view.  and we appear to be in a runaway positive feedback loop that’s 
amplifying the problem rather than damping it down.  

mikey

  
On Feb 26, 2014, at 3:15 AM, Maria Farrell <maria.farrell@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Thanks for the note, Marika.
> 
> I share Avri's concern, not least because "acting first and explaining later" 
> too often becomes "acting first and thinking later", as the perspectives of 
> those kept outside the clique turn out to have been essential to include to 
> form a balanced and comprehensive picture. 
> 
> And no amount of post hoc rationalising ever wins you back hearts and minds.
> 
> Maria
> 
> 
> On 26 February 2014 09:06, Avri Doria <avri@xxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I can only say that I wish this had all been done before the groups were 
> formed as opposed to after, and that the support and advice of the SO/AC had 
> been obtained before they were created and they began their work. This would 
> have given them a degree of legitimacy, I for one, do not believe they can 
> acquire through post-facto explanation.
> 
> I know there is theory in management of acting first and explaining later, 
> and in emergencies this is can be an appropriate method. However as it 
> becomes standard in ICANN management, it becomes less and less acceptable as 
> a method.
> 
> 
> Thanks
> 
> avri
> 
> 
> 
> On 26-Feb-14 09:56, Marika Konings wrote:
> Dear All,
> 
> For your information, you can find a video with Theresa Swinehart, Sr
> Advisor to the President on Strategy, on the creation of the President's
> Global Advisory Groups which provides some further information on the
> background and objective of these groups at
> http://www.icann.org/en/news/press/kits/video-globalization-advisory-groups-25feb14-en.htm.
> 
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Marika
> 


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