Definition of power and responsibility [Re: Delegation of power(wasRE: Section 2.4 ofdraft-ietf-problem-statement-00.txt)]

[Eric Rosen]

Keith> IETF isn't  going to get  more productive, or produce  better quality
Keith> output, until  working groups  start operating very  differently than
Keith> they do now.   and diluting IESG authority isn't going  to do a thing
Keith> to help that happen. 

The "quality output" problem is only one of the problems. Another problem is
that  good work  gets arbitrarily  delayed because  of the  concentration of
power  in the  old boys'  network.  (That  is stated  pretty clearly  in the
problem statement draft,  though I see that many of the  old boys have taken
objection to  that part  of the  draft.)  That problem  may be  addressed by
"dilution of IESG authority". 

However, it is not even clear  that "diluting IESG authority" won't help the
"quality output" problem.  For example,  delegating some of the authority to
a "directorate" (or whatever) which is expert in a particular area and which
gets substantively  involved earlier might  well help the WG  produce better
output.  The point here would not  just be to dilute anyone's authority, but
to add clues to the process earlier by means of delegation.