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RFC 4144
Network Working Group D. Eastlake 3rd
Request for Comments: 4144 Motorola Laboratories
Category: Informational September 2005
How to Gain Prominence and Influence in Standards Organizations
Status of This Memo
This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does
not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this
memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005).
IESG Note:
This RFC is not a candidate for any level of Internet Standard. The
IETF disclaims any knowledge of the fitness of this RFC for any
purpose and notes that the decision to publish is not based on IETF
review apart from IESG review for conflict with IETF work. The RFC
Editor has chosen to publish this document at its discretion. See
RFC 3932 for more information.
Abstract
This document provides simple guidelines that can make it easier for
you to gain prominence and influence in most standards organizations.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ....................................................2
2. Human Organizations .............................................2
3. Eighty Percent of Success is Showing Up .........................2
4. Sit Up Front ....................................................3
5. Break Bread .....................................................3
6. Develop Friends and Mentors .....................................4
7. Be Helpful ......................................................4
8. Learn The Traditions and Rules ..................................5
9. Acronyms and Special Terms ......................................5
10. Pick Your Points ...............................................6
11. Technical and Communications Skill .............................7
12. Do Not Try Too Hard ............................................7
13. Security Considerations ........................................7
14. Informative References .........................................8
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RFC 4144 Prominence and Influence September 2005
1. Introduction
This document contains simple guidelines that can help you to gain
prominence and influence in most standards, and many other human,
organizations. It takes only normal communications and technical
skills and moderate effort to follow these guidelines.
2. Human Organizations
All organizations composed of human beings give the appearance to
newcomers of having an inner clique that runs things. This happens
whether there is a semi-permanent cohesive inside group that actually
tries 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. It 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 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 are some types of information that should
normally be kept confidential, at least until verified, and sometimes
even then. Examples are charges of ethical or other violations
against individuals.
But, despite all this, following some simple guidelines 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.
3. Eighty Percent of Success is Showing Up
It is 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
do not need 100% attendance, but your absences should be rare. If
possible, only miss less important events.
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Attendance is obviously most important at meetings of the specific
body in which you are interested. But you should also watch 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 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. These 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.
4. Sit Up Front
If a meeting is very small, say less than 20 people, it does not make
much difference. But for meetings of any size, especially when
starting with an organization, sit up front. Do not be afraid of the
first row even if it is empty, although the second and sometimes even
the third are not too bad. Show up early if you need to, but this is
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, you may decide to sit with some group
that sits together. But, in larger meetings, the prominent people
generally sit either near the front, or way at the back. (Being in
the back, at least in large rooms, may mean you can wander around and
talk to people without disrupting things.)
5. Break Bread
All meetings of any length include 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 the attendees can get together. From small meetings
(attendance under 100) and medium size (attendance under 500 or so)
meetings, it is common for people to go to the social event.
Typically some alcohol is available, people are more relaxed and
informal. These are good events at which to approach high-level
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RFC 4144 Prominence and Influence September 2005
officials to exchange a pleasant word or two, or even make a small
request. But do not expect to engage in detailed technical
discussions, although this sometimes happens.
Social events are commonly at noisy locations. Sometimes, as
organizations get larger, social events get so large and congested
that many of the most prominent people schedule informal meetings
opposite them. You will have to see how it works in your
organization.
But there will also be plenty of informal lunch, dinner, and maybe
breakfast 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.
6. Develop Friends and Mentors
It is hard to get things done and learn what is going on entirely by
yourself. 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 do not necessarily
link up with the first people you meet. You want people who are
knowledgeable and well-regarded within the organization.
If you follow the advice in section 7 below, you should have plenty
of opportunity to meet experienced people in an organization.
7. Be Helpful
Within reason, volunteer to do some of the drudgery for which you are
competent, such as taking notes during meetings, helping someone else
draft a proposal, or volunteering to re-write part of a draft for
clarity and consistency.
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 thing is to fail to meet your promises and
not let anyone know about it until it is too late for them to
recover.
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8. Learn The Traditions and Rules
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 cannot hurt to also know the
official rules and procedures. The probability that low level groups
in the organization actually operate according to the officially
adopted rules and procedures in detail is quite low, unless the
organization has very informal rules.
Do not object to procedure just for the sake of objecting. If you
repeatedly 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 obstructionist, 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
the blowback will almost certainly damage your future efforts in that
organization.
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.
9. Acronyms and Special Terms
Essentially all technical 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, causing 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 anyone 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".
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It's a bad strategy to get lost in acronyms you do not know, so you
cannot understand what people are talking about and may make a fool
of yourself if you guess wrong. The best thing is to find out the
meaning of and learn the acronyms in advance. Failing that, ask
about acronyms or strange terms as soon as you can, preferably the
first time you encounter them. Making a written note of their
meaning could not hurt. Usually there will be others who also wanted
to ask but were afraid to and will be grateful that you took the
initiative.
10. Pick Your Points
Think a bit about the impression you make on people.
If you insist on speaking to every issue, even if you don't have any
really strong points, you will get a reputation as a blowhard who
doesn't add much and just slows things down. If you only speak
occasionally, but have solid points to make when you do, people will
pay much more attention to your occasional speeches.
Similarly, if you quibble about everything, you will use up good will
you have acquired and may be viewed as an obstructionist who causes
needless delay. If an organization is doing or developing something
complex, all the decisions are not going to go the way you want.
Consider the points where you could try to get your way, figure out
how important they are to you, how strong your arguments would be,
and how much opposition you are likely to encounter. Keep in mind
that your arguments will usually seem more impressive to you than
they do to others. Based on this, you can make a reasoned choice of
where to really put up a fight and possibly recruit allies or call in
favors.
This is not to say that you should ignore minor issues and never
speak up about them if you have new information or opinions to
contribute. Just do not invest a lot of effort in fighting an issue
or making a point unless it is important to you and you judge that
you have a reasonable chance of succeeding.
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11. 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. You do need to
understand the technical aspects of what is going on so that you
cannot be easily bamboozled.
If you are very strong technically and can make substantial
contributions, you can be helpful, if you can contribute 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. But if you are not fluent in the dominant language
of the organization, you will be at a disadvantage. While the
organization should make some attempt to be approachable by those for
whom its dominant language is a second language, the best thing to do
is to put in the time and effort to become fluent. [Farber] As a
stopgap, 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, if necessary, 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 would not count on it.
12. Do Not Try Too Hard
Lastly, give yourself a bit of time to get settled into an
organization. Then, be reasonably assertive, but do not be too pushy
unless an issue is so important you are willing to risk the
reputation you have built up. 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.
13. Security Considerations
This RFC raises no new security issues.
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14. 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
Phone: +1 508-786-7554 (w)
EMail: Donald.Eastlake@motorola.com
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RFC 4144 Prominence and Influence September 2005
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