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On 13 May 2017, at 8:15 PM, Lee Howard <<a href="mailto:spiffnolee@yahoo.com" class="">spiffnolee@yahoo.com</a>> wrote:<br class="">
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<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494591579555_131641" dir="ltr" class="">I just did a quick scan of Board minutes for the past year, and every single motion passed unanimously/all in favor. The only exceptions were abstentions where a Board member would be affected
(such as approving elections in which they were a candidate). Only one motion (I think) even required amendment before passing unanimously. ...</div>
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<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494591579555_132043" class="">This is a potential sign of "groupthink," where people go along with what the group seems to want, rather than challenge the consensus. One way to fight groupthink is to include people with
diverse perspectives.</div>
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<div>Lee - </div>
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<div><chuckle> I can assure you that we have anything other than a complacent Board,</div>
<div>or one suffering from “groupthink”… While many topics are quite routine in nature,</div>
<div>there are also often topics that enjoy very vigorous and/or contentious discussion. </div>
<div>I very much support your conclusion (more Board trustees of diverse background is </div>
<div>good thing), but not because I believe it will make the voting results any different but</div>
<div>because I believe it will help make sure that the breadth of experience brought the</div>
<div>discussions is sufficiently broad. </div>
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<div>As you may recall from your time on Board, you know that I often would suggest that </div>
<div>making a decision where there are highly contentious viewpoints was premature if time </div>
<div>allows us to do otherwise, and instead suggest pursuing further research into points </div>
<div>raised in discussion so as to return later with a more comprehensive presentation on </div>
<div>the matter. We have also deferred making decisions (where time allows) so that Board </div>
<div>members could go off and do their own research, speak with the community, etc.</div>
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<div>By way of example, the very topic of this consultation (expanding the Board size as one </div>
<div>means of potentially improving diversity) has been discussed by the Board no fewer </div>
<div>than 5 times previously (with various follow-up work for either for staff or the Board </div>
<div>Governance committee) before being brought forth last week for the recent vote... </div>
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<div>Stability is of critical importance to the Internet number registry system, and that favors </div>
<div>full deliberation and understanding before major decisions. Given the high intellectual </div>
<div>calibre of the Board members, it should not be surprising that the Board position is often </div>
<div>the result of convergence from vigorous discussion and solid understanding of the matter </div>
<div>at hand (even to the point where Board members are generally able to describe the path </div>
<div>that we collectively did not take and the reasons why…)</div>
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<div>One additional important takeaway with regard to your email is that it nicely highlights</div>
<div>why an even number of Board members is not particularly problematic, since in practice </div>
<div>we don’t see many decisions that come down to be decided based on single trustee’s </div>
<div>vote – that’s a good thing, since the Board making a decision on such a narrow margin </div>
<div>would be amiss if time allows for more consideration. Making contentious changes to </div>
<div>ARIN’s registry services based on narrow margins is a perfect setup for later capricious </div>
<div>reversal, with both our members and the entire Internet community suffering as a result. </div>
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<div>Thanks!</div>
<div>/John</div>
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<div>John Curran</div>
<div>President and CEO</div>
<div>ARIN</div>
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