<html><body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><div>Chuck,</div><div><br></div><div>Your suggested steps are inline with my thinking. If the council is willing to consider this plan, I would be very supportive of trying this method out next time a new project comes along.</div><div><br></div><div>Stéphane<br><br>Envoyé de mon iPhone4</div><div><br>Le 9 août 2010 à 17:34, "Gomes, Chuck" <<a href="mailto:cgomes@verisign.com">cgomes@verisign.com</a>> a écrit :<br><br></div><div></div><blockquote type="cite"><div>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D">Please see below St</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">é</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">phane.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D">Chuck<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif""> Stéphane Van Gelder
[mailto:stephane.vangelder@indom.com] <br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, August 09, 2010 10:27 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> Gomes, Chuck<br>
<b>Cc:</b> Caroline Greer; <<a href="mailto:council@gnso.icann.org">council@gnso.icann.org</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [council] GNSO Project Prioritization<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Chuck,<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">The only reason I am saying the effort failed is that we are
now considering alternatives as a way forward, as per our last meeting's
agenda.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Absent a feeling that the effort failed, why would the
question of "what now" even be asked?<b><i><span style="color:#1F497D">[Gomes,
Chuck] </span></i></b><span style="color:#1F497D"> The drafting team knew that
that question would have to be considered and decided that that should be a
Council activity not a DT action. “What now” was supposed to be the next step
so it does not indicate failure at all.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">As for the reasons for this failure, in my view the system
devised was way too complex. Both to implement and to execute.<b><i><span style="color:#1F497D">[Gomes, Chuck] </span></i></b><span style="color:#1F497D"> I
believe that part is fixable. In fact some of us have already been thinking of
ways to make it a lot simpler and less time consuming.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I still favour what Adrian first proposed: that the Chair
lead the decision making process as to what tasks are prioritised. Now in this,
I am not suggesting that the Chair take it upon himself to allocate priority to
existing GNSO projects. I am saying that the Chair could act as a custodian of
GNSO resources and if a new project comes in and resources are lacking to deal
with it, then the Chair either asks the council to put the project aside until
the resources become available to deal with it, or asks the council which other
project should be delayed in order to deal with the new project coming in.<b><i><span style="color:#1F497D">[Gomes, Chuck] </span></i></b><span style="color:#1F497D"> Your
clarification here is very helpful. The chair cannot be put in a situation to
make prioritization decisions in a bottom-up organization, but providing
leadership with regard to priorities that have already been set (e.g., the
current results) along with other critical information sounds reasonable. How
about steps like these as a first crack:</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D">[Gomes, Chuck] </span></i></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">The next time we decide to
initiate a new project or even to request an Issues report for a new project we
do something like this:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">1.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D">Review the results of the prioritization exercise<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">2.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D">Identify any projects that have ended or will shortly end<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">3.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D">Try to develop a very high level estimate of the availability of
community and staff resources at this time<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">4.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D">Determine whether there would be any impact on existing projects
(e.g., slow some down, defer some, etc.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">5.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D">Using the data above, evaluate whether it makes sense to take
the next step (Issues Report or WG initiation) at this time or defer it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D">The chair could take the lead on this with the help of key
parties and provide a report and possibly advice to the Council.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">In my view, this would be a way of applying good management
to our work, while still making sure that if new projects are deemed important
enough by the council, they can still be undertaken.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">This was the main gist behind my "other" on the
poll.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Stéphane<br>
<br>
Envoyé de mon iPhone4<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><br>
Le 9 août 2010 à 15:21, "Gomes, Chuck" <<a href="mailto:cgomes@verisign.com"><a href="mailto:cgomes@verisign.com">cgomes@verisign.com</a></a>> a écrit :<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Let
me try again.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Thanks
for the thoughtful comments Caroline. You say below, “. . . the process
(ie, was it flawed in some way? If we all agree on that, then yes, we should
scrap the results that we have)”. Why should we necessarily scrap the
process just because it was flawed in some way? If we think that the
flaws caused invalid results, I would agree, but if not, why not try to improve
the process by fixing the flaws?</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">If
there are those who think the results are invalid, please help me understand
why you think that? I can understand that some may believe that the
results may not provide as much direction as hoped, but that does not mean they
are invalid. I can also understand that some may think that the value of
the results might not justify the level of effort expended, but again, that
does not make the results invalid. Regarding the first scenario, it was
stated up front that the process did not cover how to use the results and that
the Council would have to work on that. Regarding the second scenario,
maybe the level of effort could be reduced to be more commensurate with the end
product.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">I
personally don’t believe that the results provide a magic bullet but I didn’t
expect them to. At the same time I sincerely believe that they provide us
information that we could use in conjunction with other information as we
consider whether to initiate new projects in the coming months.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Chuck</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif""> Caroline Greer
[mailto:cgreer@mtld.mobi] <br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, August 09, 2010 8:18 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> Stéphane Van Gelder<br>
<b>Cc:</b> Gomes, Chuck; <a href="mailto:council@gnso.icann.org"><a href="mailto:council@gnso.icann.org">council@gnso.icann.org</a></a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> RE: [council] GNSO Project Prioritization</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Well,
if I could throw it back Stéphane, when you say that the work done so far did
not produce the ‘desired results’, what is meant by that? What were our needs
and what was the objective? [and I apologize for lacking some of the history
here, as I believe this effort started before I joined the Council]. Surely we
managed as a group to identify some projects of agreed high importance and my
thinking was to use that information when we face decisions around prioritizing
work – be that time spent by Council on a particular topic at a meeting or
whatever. For example, do the Chairs need / use that sort of information when
drafting meeting agendas, allocating time etc?</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">What
was the expected output of this project – how can we all have got to the end of
this very long effort and have failed so miserably in the eyes of some, to the
extent that we cannot salvage anything useful whatsoever? I agree that the
process seemed rather laborious and complex but was there not some general
agreement on some aspects? </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">I
should add at this point that I unfortunately has to miss the Saturday session
in Brussels that was devoted to the Work Prioritization effort and so do not
have the benefit of that Council discussion either and I failed to see the
project’s final stages in action. However, it would be useful for me to hear
again what went so disastrously wrong in the opinion of some – was it the
complexity / amount of effort spent relative to the value of the project (in
which case we can probably all agree on that but look to the results anyway and
try to use them in some way) or the process (ie, was it flawed in some way? If
we all agree on that, then yes, we should scrap the results that we have).
Alternatively, do we simply not know what to now do with the results, in which
case that requires group discussion in my opinion.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Many
thanks,</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Caroline.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif""> Stéphane Van Gelder
[mailto:stephane.vangelder@indom.com] <br>
<b>Sent:</b> 09 August 2010 12:46<br>
<b>To:</b> Caroline Greer<br>
<b>Cc:</b> <<a href="mailto:cgomes@verisign.com"><a href="mailto:cgomes@verisign.com">cgomes@verisign.com</a></a>>;
<<a href="mailto:council@gnso.icann.org"><a href="mailto:council@gnso.icann.org">council@gnso.icann.org</a></a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [council] GNSO Project Prioritization</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">How
would you suggest using the model already developed (ie making use of the work
done to date as you suggest)?<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">The
very reason we are wondering how to continue our prioritisation project is that
people deemed the work done so far not to have produced the desired results. We
can recognise that the group who undertook this work deserve a round of
applause for their efforts while still considering that the result is not
applicable to our needs.<o:p></o:p></p>
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