<div dir="auto">Thank you for this. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">+1</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">I am *almost* shocked that this is still a conversation. </div><div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, Mar 2, 2022 at 5:25 PM <<a href="mailto:bzs@theworld.com">bzs@theworld.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204)"><br>
I'm sort of amazed that after at least 40+ years of diversity<br>
discussion and practices (obviously not limited to the networking<br>
sphere) we go right back to year zero on the issue of whether or not<br>
including members of varying race, gender, etc introduce diversity and<br>
are a good thing or not.<br>
<br>
One thing is certain, the net/email/lists seem to make people believe<br>
they are gods and if they wish to advocate whether or not the earth is<br>
flat well, it's their keyboard to bang on, no need for external<br>
reference, studies, thoughts from experienced professionals, etc.<br>
<br>
Why not type "the value of diversity in governance" and read through<br>
some of the hits. Or read one or two from respected sources, including<br>
retrospective findings of studies on the topic such as:<br>
<br>
<a href="https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2020/07/14/maximizing-the-benefits-of-board-diversity-lessons-learned-from-activist-investing/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2020/07/14/maximizing-the-benefits-of-board-diversity-lessons-learned-from-activist-investing/</a><br>
<br>
or<br>
<br>
<a href="https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/diversity-nonprofit-boards" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/diversity-nonprofit-boards</a><br>
<br>
etc.<br>
<br>
also maybe enter "diversity and governance" into Amazon's book search<br>
and consider some titles.<br>
<br>
> On Tue, Mar 1, 2022 at 7:11 PM Mike Burns <<a href="mailto:mike@iptrading.com" target="_blank">mike@iptrading.com</a>> wrote:<br>
> <br>
> Hi Ted,<br>
> <br>
> I appreciate your general feelings about diversity, but diversity of<br>
> thought is really the significant factor.<br>
> I don't think diversity of race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or<br>
> any of that matters in decisions about the stewardship of numbers.<br>
> But diversity of thought is different and I don't think superficial<br>
> diversity is the desire here, although I concur it may have been in the<br>
> past.<br>
> <br>
> In addition to diversity of thought, one of the reasons offered for this<br>
> change was protection from board capture.<br>
> Although you may be right about difficulties reaching consensual decisions<br>
> with larger boards, and those difficulties making larger boards appear<br>
> conservative, I find that as organizations grow larger they actually grow<br>
> less conservative as a rule. We could argue that point.<br>
> <br>
> But the advantages gained by making board capture more difficult outweigh<br>
> the disadvantages associated with slower decision-making.<br>
> And advantages of true diversity of thought and relevant experience are<br>
> even more important. <br>
> <br>
> A board of only six members is very easy to capture and in the workings of<br>
> the last NomCom I detected a real danger of that happening at ARIN.<br>
> <br>
> I take it at face value that the current and prior boards were honestly<br>
> interested in reviewing ARIN governance and that this recommendation<br>
> resonates with more than just a hired consultant but with the board members<br>
> who commissioned the review. <br>
> <br>
> I am not a fan of ARIN expanding its number stewardship responsibilities<br>
> beyond what is minimally necessary. I am not a fan of the board making<br>
> charitable donations or spending lots of money on items tangential to<br>
> number stewardship but some of the issues mentioned below do intersect with<br>
> those responsibilities. Included among these are cybersecurity, risk<br>
> management, and legal issues associated with the registration of<br>
> increasingly valuable resources. These are issues the earliest boards may<br>
> not have had to deal with, but these have become important today, and<br>
> likely there will be other issues that arise in the future.<br>
> <br>
> It makes sense with proliferating duties to have a larger board, and<br>
> additionally the protection afforded against board capture lead me to<br>
> support this increase in board size.<br>
> <br>
> Regards,<br>
> Mike Burns<br>
> <br>
> <br>
> <br>
> <br>
> <br>
> ---- On Tue, 01 Mar 2022 16:06:25 -0500 Ted Mittelstaedt <<a href="mailto:tedm@ipinc.net" target="_blank">tedm@ipinc.net</a>><br>
> wrote ----<br>
> <br>
> <br>
> Yes, this sort of thing is all the rage today. It's a big fad.<br>
> Predictably the phrase "Increase diversity of thought on issues<br>
> impacting the community" was included as a poison pill.<br>
> <br>
> Anyone arguing against the idea is immediately labeled as being against<br>
> the magic "diversity" word and thus a bigot and racist and so has lost<br>
> the argument before they even make it.<br>
> <br>
> You might consider that a hired consultant who says "thank you for that<br>
> fat check you gave me, the reality is you are doing nothing wrong and<br>
> don't need any of my suggestions" is going to be viewed as a scammer<br>
> at worst, and a stupid waste of money at best. Management consultants<br>
> ALWAYS recommend changes. You could hire a consulting firm to study<br>
> the most successful and profitable company in the world and they would<br>
> find something wrong.<br>
> <br>
> Go ahead if you want. It just means that even less will get done<br>
> since in general the more members on any sort of governing committee or<br>
> team, the more conservative it is, and the harder it is to arrive at<br>
> a consensus.<br>
> <br>
> <a href="https://hbr.org/2009/05/why-teams-dont-work" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://hbr.org/2009/05/why-teams-dont-work</a><br>
> <br>
> In another decade the next consultant will recommend shrinking the<br>
> board<br>
> so it really doesn't matter what you do now.<br>
> <br>
> Ted Mittelstaedt<br>
> <br>
> -------- Forwarded Message --------<br>
> Subject: [arin-announce] Consultation on Increasing the Size of the<br>
> ARIN<br>
> Board of Trustees<br>
> Date: Tue, 01 Mar 2022 13:54:35 -0500<br>
> From: ARIN <<a href="mailto:info@arin.net" target="_blank">info@arin.net</a>><br>
> To: <a href="mailto:arin-announce@arin.net" target="_blank">arin-announce@arin.net</a> <<a href="mailto:arin-announce@arin.net" target="_blank">arin-announce@arin.net</a>><br>
> <br>
> The Board of Trustees maintains authority over the scope, mission, and<br>
> along with the President and Chief Executive Officer establishes ARIN’s<br>
> strategic direction and fiscal oversight. The Board also has oversight<br>
> authority of the nomination, appointment, and election of individuals<br>
> to<br>
> Board committees and similar roles.<br>
> Over the past two years, as part of its fiduciary duties, the ARIN<br>
> Board<br>
> of Trustees (“Board”) has undertaken a review of ARIN’s governance<br>
> structures, including the size of the Board. As part of this effort, an<br>
> independent, outside consultant was engaged to review ARIN’s governance<br>
> structures and provide recommendations.<br>
> One recommendation from this governance review is to increase the size<br>
> of the Board to strengthen its capacity to provide strategic and fiscal<br>
> oversight of ARIN. Increasing the Board size will:<br>
> 1. Increase the range and depth of overlapping skills and governance<br>
> experience on the Board to augment its capability. Specific areas for<br>
> strengthening include cybersecurity, risk management, finance, legal,<br>
> technology and strategic oversight. This will require more than 6<br>
> elected seats at the board table to provide this experience.<br>
> <br>
> 2. Increase diversity of thought on issues impacting the community,<br>
> limit the possibility of board capture, and balance the time commitment<br>
> required of our community volunteers.<br>
> <br>
> 3. Ensure sufficient board capacity to engage in more focused,<br>
> efficient<br>
> governance activities, including participation in these additional<br>
> valuable committees (e.g. Governance, Risk & Cybersecurity, and<br>
> Strategy<br>
> & Foresight) to manage the work and oversight duties of the Board, and<br>
> to take on work that is requested by, and important to, the community<br>
> as<br>
> it evolves.<br>
> <br>
> The budgetary impact will not be material, as the only increased costs<br>
> would be for travel costs involved in attending in-person Board<br>
> meetings. The number of Board members travelling to any RIR meeting<br>
> would not change.<br>
> <br>
> Board Proposal<br>
> <br>
> ARIN will increase the number of elected voting seats of the Board from<br>
> six to nine. The currently available appointed voting seat would be<br>
> removed.<br>
> <br>
> The additional Board seats would be added in a staggered format with<br>
> one<br>
> additional seat for election in each of the upcoming election cycles<br>
> starting with the 2022 election period.<br>
> ARIN seeks community feedback on this proposed increase to the size of<br>
> the Board. This consultation will remain open for 15 days.<br>
> <br>
> Please provide comments to <a href="mailto:arin-consult@arin.net" target="_blank">arin-consult@arin.net</a>. You can subscribe to<br>
> this mailing list at: <a href="http://lists.arin.net/mailman/listinfo/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://lists.arin.net/mailman/listinfo/</a><br>
> arin-consult.<br>
> <br>
> Discussion on <a href="mailto:arin-consult@arin.net" target="_blank">arin-consult@arin.net</a> will close on 15 March 2022.<br>
> <br>
> Regards,<br>
> <br>
> John Curran<br>
> President and CEO<br>
> American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)<br>
> <br>
> <br>
> _______________________________________________<br>
> ARIN-Announce<br>
> You are receiving this message because you are subscribed to<br>
> the ARIN Announce Mailing List (<a href="mailto:ARIN-announce@arin.net" target="_blank">ARIN-announce@arin.net</a>).<br>
> Unsubscribe or manage your mailing list subscription at:<br>
> <a href="https://lists.arin.net/mailman/listinfo/arin-announce" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://lists.arin.net/mailman/listinfo/arin-announce</a><br>
> Please contact <a href="mailto:info@arin.net" target="_blank">info@arin.net</a> if you experience any issues.<br>
> _______________________________________________<br>
> ARIN-Consult<br>
> You are receiving this message because you are subscribed to the ARIN<br>
> Consult Mailing<br>
> List (<a href="mailto:ARIN-consult@arin.net" target="_blank">ARIN-consult@arin.net</a>).<br>
> Unsubscribe or manage your mailing list subscription at:<br>
> <a href="https://lists.arin.net/mailman/listinfo/arin-consult" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://lists.arin.net/mailman/listinfo/arin-consult</a> Please contact the<br>
> ARIN Member Services<br>
> Help Desk at <a href="mailto:info@arin.net" target="_blank">info@arin.net</a> if you experience any issues.<br>
> <br>
> <br>
> <br>
> _______________________________________________<br>
> ARIN-Consult<br>
> You are receiving this message because you are subscribed to the ARIN<br>
> Consult Mailing<br>
> List (<a href="mailto:ARIN-consult@arin.net" target="_blank">ARIN-consult@arin.net</a>).<br>
> Unsubscribe or manage your mailing list subscription at:<br>
> <a href="https://lists.arin.net/mailman/listinfo/arin-consult" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://lists.arin.net/mailman/listinfo/arin-consult</a> Please contact the<br>
> ARIN Member Services<br>
> Help Desk at <a href="mailto:info@arin.net" target="_blank">info@arin.net</a> if you experience any issues.<br>
> <br>
> _______________________________________________<br>
> ARIN-Consult<br>
> You are receiving this message because you are subscribed to the ARIN Consult Mailing<br>
> List (<a href="mailto:ARIN-consult@arin.net" target="_blank">ARIN-consult@arin.net</a>).<br>
> Unsubscribe or manage your mailing list subscription at:<br>
> <a href="https://lists.arin.net/mailman/listinfo/arin-consult" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://lists.arin.net/mailman/listinfo/arin-consult</a> Please contact the ARIN Member Services<br>
> Help Desk at <a href="mailto:info@arin.net" target="_blank">info@arin.net</a> if you experience any issues.<br>
<br>
-- <br>
-Barry Shein<br>
<br>
Software Tool & Die | bzs@TheWorld.com | <a href="http://www.TheWorld.com" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.TheWorld.com</a><br>
Purveyors to the Trade | Voice: +1 617-STD-WRLD | 800-THE-WRLD<br>
The World: Since 1989 | A Public Information Utility | *oo*<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
ARIN-Consult<br>
You are receiving this message because you are subscribed to the ARIN Consult Mailing<br>
List (<a href="mailto:ARIN-consult@arin.net" target="_blank">ARIN-consult@arin.net</a>).<br>
Unsubscribe or manage your mailing list subscription at:<br>
<a href="https://lists.arin.net/mailman/listinfo/arin-consult" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://lists.arin.net/mailman/listinfo/arin-consult</a> Please contact the ARIN Member Services<br>
Help Desk at <a href="mailto:info@arin.net" target="_blank">info@arin.net</a> if you experience any issues.<br>
</blockquote></div></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><font face="garamond, serif" size="4">--<br>Kind regards,<br>Bartlett D. Morgan<br></font><br></div></div></div>