One document matched: draft-eastlake-prominence-00.txt
INTERNET-DRAFT Donald E. Eastlake 3rd
Motorola Laboratories
Expires August 2004 February 2004
How to Gain Prominence and Influence in Standards Organizations
--- -- ---- ---------- --- --------- -- --------- -------------
<draft-eastlake-prominence-00.txt>
Donald E. Eastlake 3rd
Status of This Document
Distribution of this document is unlimited. Comments should be sent
to the author.
This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with
all provisions of Section 10 of RFC 2026. Internet-Drafts are
working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), its
areas, and its working groups. Note that other groups may also
distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts.
Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
material or to cite them other than as "work in progress." The list
of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at
http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt The list of Internet-Draft
Shadow Directories can be accessed at
http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html.
Abstract
Following some simple guidelines can make it easier for you to gain
prominence and influence in most standards organizations.
D. Eastlake 3rd [Page 1]
INTERNET-DRAFT Prominence and Influence
Table of Contents
Status of This Document....................................1
Abstract...................................................1
Table of Contents..........................................2
1. Introduction............................................3
2. Eighty Percent of Success is Showing Up.................3
3. Sit Up Front............................................4
4. Break Bread.............................................4
5. Be Helpful..............................................5
6. Learn The Traditions, Rules, and Procedures.............5
7. Develop Some Friends and Mentors........................6
8. Know the Acronyms and Special Terms.....................6
9. Technical and Communications Skill......................7
10. Don't Try Too Hard.....................................7
11. Informative References.................................8
Author's Address...........................................8
Expiration and File Name...................................8
D. Eastlake 3rd [Page 2]
INTERNET-DRAFT Prominence and Influence
1. Introduction
There are some guidelines that can help your prominence and influence
in most standards organizations. They can be done with reasonable
safety and moderate effort assuming you have at least normal
communications and technical skills.
All organizations are composed of human beings and give the
appearance to newcomers of having an inner clique that runs things.
This is true whether there is a semi-permanent cohesive inside group
that is actually trying to keep all power in its own hands or those
in positions of power are genuinely trying to be open and willing to
share and there is a system for their regular replacement. This is
just the nature of human society. It always takes time and effort to
get to know new people. [Carnegie]
All organizations have procedures. It always takes time and effort to
learn how things are done in an organization. In an organization of
any size, those who happen to be in positions of authority just can't
spend equal time talking with everyone about every issue in the
organization. Their positions mean they will necessarily be in many
conversations with each other and fewer conversations with the
average member. And there really are some types of information that
should be kept confidential, at least until verified and sometimes
even then, such as charges against individuals. But by following some
simple guidelines you can greatly accelerate the rate at which you
will become favorably known in an organization.
Favorable prominence can increase your chance of being selected for
positions such as editorship of documents, secretary or clerk of a
group (so you get to produce the record of what *actually* happened),
or possibly even some level of chair or deputy chair position.
2. Eighty Percent of Success is Showing Up
It's the simplest thing! If you are absent, how can you have much
prominence or influence?
This applies to all venues, email/messaging, telephone/video
conference, and especially in person or face-to-face meetings. You
don't need 100% attendance but your absences should be rare and, if
possible, only miss less important events.
Attendance is obviously most important at meetings of the specific
body in which you are interested. But you should also be on the look
out for higher-level or lower-level meetings that are open. Many
standards groups have a multi-level structure. As well as attending
the group you are interested in, if there are open meetings of
D. Eastlake 3rd [Page 3]
INTERNET-DRAFT Prominence and Influence
various group chairs or the like, attending those can be a fast track
even if you only get to observe and be noticed. And if there are sub-
groups of the group you are most interested in, consider attending
them also to become better known more quickly. Higher-level meetings
may be before the beginning or after the end of the regular member
meetings so if you are really serious, you should be prepared to
arrive early and leave late.
3. Sit Up Front
If a meeting is small enough, it doesn't make as much difference. But
for meetings of any size, especially when starting with an
organization, sit up front. Don't be afraid of the first row even if
it's empty, although the second and sometimes even the third aren't
too bad. Show up early if you need to, but it's usually not necessary
as most people are extraordinarily reluctant to put themselves in an
exposed place, like the front row.
After you have some experience, there may be some group that sits in
some part of the audience you want to sit with. But, for larger
meetings, the prominent people generally sit either up near the
front, or way at the back. (Being in the back generally means you can
wander around and talk to people, to some extent, without disrupting
things.)
4. Break Bread
All meetings of any length involve refreshment and meals. Otherwise
the attendees would starve.
If there is a group catered meal, try sitting with different groups
or factions to get an idea of the different viewpoints in the
organization. Or try to sit at a table and eat with people who have
some seniority and experience in the organization if they seem
receptive.
Usually, for multi-day meetings, there is at least one big social
event where everyone can get together. From small (attendance under
100) and medium size (attendance under 500 or so) meetings, it is
common for most people to go to the social. Typically some alcohol is
available, people are more relaxed and informal. These are good
events at which to approach high-level officials to exchange a
pleasant word or two or even make a small request. But don't count on
being able to engage in detailed technical discussions. Social events
are commonly at noisy locations. Sometimes, as organizations get
larger, over a thousand say, the socials get so large and congested
D. Eastlake 3rd [Page 4]
INTERNET-DRAFT Prominence and Influence
that many of the most prominent people schedule informal meetings or
the like opposite them. You will just have to see how it works in
your organization.
But there will also be plenty of informal dinner groups and lunch
groups (unless they are all catered) and other get-togethers. At some
standards meetings you can more or less invite yourself along to such
meal groups, unless they are a small confidential group or a group of
employees of a particular company or the like. Usually people will
warn you if the group plans to spend much of the meal discussing some
particular issue and you can then decide if you want to go with them.
5. Be Helpful
Within reason, volunteer to do some of the drudgery for which you are
competent, such as taking notes during meetings or helping someone
else draft a proposal, or volunteering to re-write part of a draft
for clarity and consistency, even if it is a part you don't care very
much about.
This sort of thing will get you noticed and put some people in your
debt, at least in a minor way. But be careful not to volunteer for
more than you can actually do. Failing to follow through will damage
your reputation. If you do get over committed, seek help as soon as
you realize it. The worst possible thing is to fail to meet your
promises and not let anyone know about it until it is too late for
them to recover.
6. Learn The Traditions, Rules, and Procedures
It is quite important to know the traditions of an organization, how
things get done, what rules are ignored, how rules are interpreted,
and what rules are rigorously enforced.
While traditions are more important, it can't hurt to know the
official rules and procedures. The probability that the lowest level
groups in the organization actually operate according to the
officially adopted rules and procedures in minute detail is quite low
unless the organization has pretty informal rules. But don't try to
gain prominence by objecting to procedure just for the sake of
objecting. If you invoke little known and rarely used official rules
in small matters, it is a sure way to make people assume that what
you have to say is silly or obstructionst until proven otherwise. If
you invoke the official rules so as to override tradition in an
important matter, be aware that you are playing with a weapon of mass
destruction. You may or may not accomplish your immediate goal but
D. Eastlake 3rd [Page 5]
INTERNET-DRAFT Prominence and Influence
the blowback will probably damage your future efforts in that
organization.
Conversely, while it is always the path of least resistance to follow
tradition, knowing the official rules makes you aware of when they
could be invoked against you. This may enable you to adopt a path
that is reasonably congruent with both the traditions and the rules,
maximizing your chances of success.
7. Develop Some Friends and Mentors
Trying to get things done and learn what's going on entirely by
yourself is very hard. If you can, find a few people with more
experience that you can go to with questions.
Introduce yourself to people and be friendly. But don't necessarily
link up with the first people you meet. You want people who are
knowledgeable and of whom their is a favorable impression within the
organization.
If you follow the advice in Section 5 above, you should have plenty
of opportunity to get to know experienced people in an organization.
8. Know the Acronyms and Special Terms
Essentially all technical standards efforts wallow in acronyms and
special "terms of art". It sometimes seems as if no effort or sub-
effort is really rolling until it has come up with several non-
obvious terms to confuse those who have not been involved for a
while. Nor are acronyms constant. Especially in the early part of a
standards effort, when ideas are flopping around, acronyms and
special terms frequently change for further confusion of those not in
the most active part of the group.
In fact, if you read an explanation of some deep technical matter
written so someone outside that field can understand it, you can be
virtually certain that it is not how experts in the field communicate
with each other, verbally or in writing. This is true of all fields.
Read something about engineering big "air vents" and "water pipes"?
Experts use "plenum" and "penstock".
It is not a good strategy to get lost in acronyms you don't know, so
you can't understand what people are talking about and may make a
fool of yourself if you guess wrong. The best thing is to find out
about and learn the acronyms in advance. Failing that, unless it
would be very embarrassing, ask about what acronyms or strange terms
D. Eastlake 3rd [Page 6]
INTERNET-DRAFT Prominence and Influence
mean as soon as you can, preferably the first time you encounter
them. Making a written note of their meaning couldn't hurt. Usually
there will be others who also wanted to ask but were afraid to and
will be grateful you took the initiative.
9. Technical and Communications Skill
You may be surprised that I have said very little about technical and
communication skills although in the Introduction above, it was
assumed that you had normal skills in these areas. Certainly, you
need to understand the technical aspects of what's going on so that
you can't be easily bamboozled.
If you are very strong technically and can make substantial
contributions, this can be helpful in accomplishing your goals if you
can do it in a way that does not offend too many people. But,
especially in a large technical standards body, not everyone can be a
strong technical contributor.
If you have strong verbal and written communications skills, this can
also be helpful in accomplishing your goals. But if you are not
fluent in the dominant language of the standards organization you are
interested in, you will be at a disadvantage. While the standards
organization should make some attempt to be approachable by those for
whom its dominent language is a second language, the best thing to do
is to put in the time and effort to become fluent. [Farber] As a stop
gap, you can team up with someone with whom you communicate well and
who is fluent in the standards organization language. They can speak
for you in meetings and co-author written contributions with you.
If you are the rare genius with superb technical, communication, and
interpersonal skills, you are wasting your time reading this and
might be able to get away with doing exactly the opposite of some of
its recommendations. But I wouldn't count on it...
10. Don't Try Too Hard
Lastly, after you've given it a bit of time and settled into an
organization, be reasonably assertive but don't be too pushy. And try
to never lose your temper.
Unless you are a genius at inter-personal relations, you will not
gain substantial prominence and influence in a standards organization
overnight. These things take time and patience.
D. Eastlake 3rd [Page 7]
INTERNET-DRAFT Prominence and Influence
11. Informative References
[Carnegie] - "How To Win Friends And Influence People", Dale
Carnegie, 1990, ISBN 0671723650.
[Farber] - "How to Learn Any Language", Barry Farber, 1991, ISBN
1-56731-543-7.
Author's Address
Donald E. Eastlake 3rd
Motorola Laboratories
155 Beaver Street
Milford, MA 01757 USA
Telephone: +1 508-786-7554 (w)
+1 508-634-2066 (h)
EMail: Donald.Eastlake@motorola.com
Expiration and File Name
This draft expires August 2004.
Its file name is draft-eastlake-prominence-00.txt.
D. Eastlake 3rd [Page 8]
| PAFTECH AB 2003-2026 | 2026-04-23 16:11:28 |