Subject: Re: [Mentoring-coordinators] IETF Culture was: Re: draft-klensin-iaoc-member-01 (was: Re: I-D Action: draft-hardie-iaoc-iab-update-00.txt)

From: <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2016 20:52:16 +0000 (UTC)

Mike,

>I'm going to go off on a tangent.  This is only peripherally related to 
>the other topic.

>One of the other things that comes up with the IETF from time to time is 
>how to make the IETF more open and welcoming to newcomers. The IETF has 
>a *lot* of unwritten rules - perhaps more than most organizations. 
>*IMHO*, that may make it more difficult for newcomers to figure out how 
>things work and where they can push or pull to effect change - there's a 
>lot of anecdotal evidence that this may be the case.  I would also tend 
>to believe that written rules with plain meanings (that are mostly 
>followed) tend to level the playing field for those just joining.

>(A quick google search - "written vs unwritten rules newcomers" finds 
>http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/battah-workplace-rules-1.3274856 
>for example - there are a lot of others in this space)

>So I'm not so sure that the above is a universal truth.    Both you and 
>Andrew (and me FWIW) are long term participants and tend to know where 

>the levers are.  I wonder if those just joining us would agree?

The question of "unwritten rules" comes up in the mentoring program quite a bit, so I wrote the following:

https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-elkins-ietf-unwritten-rules-values/

Would love to have your comments,

Nalini Elkins
IETF Mentoring Program