INTERNET-DRAFT Donald E. Eastlake 3rd
Motorola Laboratories
Expires April 2005 October 2004
How to Gain Prominence and Influence in Standards Organizations
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<draft-eastlake-prominence-02.txt>
Donald E. Eastlake 3rd
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Abstract
Following some simple guidelines can make it easier for you to gain
prominence and influence in most standards organizations.
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Table of Contents
Status of This Document....................................1
Abstract...................................................1
Table of Contents..........................................2
1. Introduction............................................3
2. Human Organizations.....................................3
3. Eighty Percent of Success is Showing Up.................3
4. Sit Up Front............................................4
5. Break Bread.............................................4
6. Develop Friends and Mentors.............................5
7. Be Helpful..............................................5
8. Learn The Traditions and Rules..........................6
9. Acronyms and Special Terms..............................6
10. Pick Your Points.......................................7
11. Technical and Communications Skill.....................7
12. Do Not Try Too Hard....................................8
13. Informative References.................................9
Copyright and Disclaimer...................................9
Author's Address..........................................10
Expiration and File Name..................................10
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1. Introduction
There are guidelines that can help you gain prominence and influence
in most standards and many other human organizations. It only takes
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 get 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 normally be kept confidential, at least until verified, and
sometimes even then. For example, 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
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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
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
as 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 it 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, 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, at least in large
rooms, generally means you can wander around and talk to people some
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 (attendance
under 100) and medium size (attendance under 500 or so) meetings, it
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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 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, well over 500, the socials get so large and
congested 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 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's 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 of whom their is a favorable impression within the
organization.
If you follow the advice in section 7 below, you should have plenty
of opportunity to get to know 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 or 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
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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.
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 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 anyone can understand it, you can be virtually certain
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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'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 about
and learn the acronyms in advance. Failing that, ask about what
acronyms or strange terms mean 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 you took the initiative.
10. Pick Your Points
Think a bit about the impression people are going to get of you.
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 blow hard that
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.
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
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assumed that you had normal skills in these areas. Certainly, you
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, this can be helpful, 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. 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
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, 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 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.
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13. 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.
Copyright and Disclaimer
Copyright (C) The Internet Society 2004. This document is subject to
the rights, licenses and restrictions contained in BCP 78 and except
as set forth therein, the authors retain all their rights.
This document and the information contained herein are provided on an
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OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET
ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
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INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
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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 April 2005.
Its file name is draft-eastlake-prominence-02.txt.
D. Eastlake 3rd [Page 10]