Re: [DRAFT #2] Maximum term for tech ctte members
Watching other volunteer organizations, I've found that having turnover
somewhere between 3-5 years tends to work fairly well.
I've seen this in student organizations where the turnover tends to be
somewhat encouraged by graduation although in the cases I'm thinking of
that did not force the issue.
By 3 years someone is very good at what they do. However, they start to
burn out and start to not notice or take advantage of good ideas.
The burn out is becoming a significant issue by 5 years.
I've seen the same thing in the IETF. There, two years is really just
enough to learn some of the leadership roles and to get into the stride
of things. Those roles are fairly intense. Four years tends to work
quite well, but by 6 years (two year terms), people really do tend to be
burned out. Even the best people are showing significant signs of being
jaded and abrupt. They don't pursue things with the dedication they
used to, they don't dedicate as much time to working with folks to
understand all sides, consensus decisions seem to be more forced.
Keep in mind that TC members can seek wizdom and institutional memory
from outside the TC. There's nothing stopping a TC member next year
from writing to Russ, Ian, collin, or even older TC members to get
advice.
The point should be to have people with good technical judgment and
current willingness to come up with solutions that make the project
stronger. That doesn't require a huge memory of being on the TC.
--Sam
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