Subject: [newtrk] Renaming the nodes in a graph doesn't shrink it

From: Larry Masinter <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 16:43:36 -0800

How does adding a "WGS" label actuall help?
What is the added benefit over the document editor
just adding a note to the Internet Draft:

  NOTE: This version -03 of the specification is
  a "Working Group Snapshot". The working group believes
  that this specification is appropriate for experimental
  implementations. It is stable, and will not change
  unless implementation etc...

The working group could give very explicit directions
about the status of the document, open issues, etc,
without any change to the formal IETF process.

============================================
In general,  changing labels or names for things
in a process doesn't do anything to optimize the
process or make it more effective.

A process is an arrangement of *events in which
*individuals take *responsibility for performing *tasks
and making *judgements.  When you discuss process
improvement, unless you actually change the order
of events, the individuals involved, their responsibilities,
or the nature of the tasks or judgements, you haven't
made a significant change. Changing the labels on the graph
doesn't change the topology of the graph or the progress
of work through it.

You sometimes can optimize a process by removing steps,
reassigning responsibility, reducing judgement needed,
or eliminating tasks. However, doing so
might also change the quality of the results that make
it through the process.

You can often optimize a process by making it more visible:
making it clearer to the individuals involved what their
responsibilities are, what judgements they need to make,
when, and giving management (and the public) more visibility
into where things might be stuck.  Visibility and notification
allow the individuals who have responsibility to know what
it is, and others to remind them.

The I-D tracker, RFC Editor Queue, and IESG status tracker
are useful tools, but they could still work better, for example,
if they were linked, if the information were more up to date,
and if the results were available for further analysis.

I urge a focus on improving visibility first, actually
optimizing processes second, and then relabeling steps
in the process last.

Larry
-- 
http://larry.masinter.net

.
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