Fwd: [council] Rod Beckstrom to leave ICANN at the end of his term

[nhklein]

While I agree with Milton Mueller and others that we have to stay 
focused on our NCSG concerns, I think they are clearly stated as NOT 
having been central to the achievements of the outgoing ICANN CEO, as he 
says in the press release:

“I can summarize my time here in four words: strong execution, great 
teambuilding,” he said. “We have
built a world-class executive team, and elevated ICANN’s stature through 
*strategic relationships with
governments, businesses, top technology firms and international 
organizations.*”

Is this the "Internet community"?


Norbert Klein



On 08/19/2011 04:05 AM, Milton L Mueller wrote:
> Maria
> I did not say that it didn't matter who the CEO is. Of course it does. 
> But its a fact that NCUC/NSCG had its worst forms of persecution by 
> ICANN staff before Rod was CEO, and that little changed for us when he 
> was hired.
>
> What I think we need to distance ourselves from are Kierens claims 
> that Rod took credit for things that others did and other kinds of 
> personality issues. Its just not relevant to us.
>
> Milton Mueller
> Professor, Syracuse University School of Information Studies
>
>
> -----Original message-----
>
>     *From: *Maria Farrell <maria.farrell at gmail.com>*
>     To: *Milton L Mueller <mueller at syr.edu>*
>     Cc: *"NCSG-DISCUSS at listserv.syr.edu" <NCSG-DISCUSS at listserv.syr.edu>*
>     Sent: *Thu, Aug 18, 2011 17:59:19 GMT+00:00*
>     Subject: *Re: Fwd: [council] Rod Beckstrom to leave ICANN at the
>     end of his term
>
>     I have to disagree, Milton.
>
>     For a start, Kieren resigned at his own behest. (I was fired
>     though - and I'm not in this for revenge but because I care about
>     how the organisation works.) He's not a vengeful guy and is
>     demonstrably pursuing the same arguments and issues he did before
>     he ever worked for ICANN.
>
>     But to the main point - that it doesn't matter who's running the
>     ship - the 'plague on all your houses' approach. Of course it
>     matters who's in charge. NCUC has, rightly, complained strenuously
>     for several years about being pushed aside by staff in favour of
>     the at large and other gnso constituencies. That's staff-directed
>     policy and can change overnight, depending on who runs the
>     show. Even if we care less about the org as a whole, there's still
>     a clear benefit for ncuc in some types of ceo rather than others.
>
>     Which is not to be completely naive about it. The CEO is not going
>     to change our lives, here in NCUC, but she or he will have an
>     impact and we can have one back.
>
>     2011/8/18 Milton L Mueller <mueller at syr.edu <mailto:mueller at syr.edu>>
>
>         Kieren makes some worthwhile points here but you have to
>         remember that Kieren was fired by Beckstrom, so he has a
>         revenge motive in writing things like this. From NCSG’s point
>         of view, a lot of this kind of stuff is a bunch of snarky
>         disputes among insiders and doesn’t affect our status or the
>         policies we care about much.
>
>         --MM
>
>         *From:*NCSG-Discuss [mailto:NCSG-DISCUSS at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
>         <mailto:NCSG-DISCUSS at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU>] *On Behalf Of *Poomjit
>         Sirawongprasert
>         *Sent:* Wednesday, August 17, 2011 2:16 PM
>         *To:* NCSG-DISCUSS at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
>         <mailto:NCSG-DISCUSS at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU>
>         *Subject:* Re: [NCSG-Discuss] Fwd: [council] Rod Beckstrom to
>         leave ICANN at the end of his term
>
>         How about his?
>
>         ICANN fires its CEO
>         http://news.dot-nxt.com/2011/08/16/icann-fires-ceo
>
>
>           ICANN fires its CEO
>
>         by Kieren McCarthy | 16 Aug 2011 |
>
>         The CEO of ICANN Rod Beckstrom has announced he is leaving the
>         organization at the end of his contract.
>
>         According to a tweet
>         <http://twitter.com/#%21/RodBeckstrom/status/103607748717060096>
>         sent out by Beckstrom at 4.20pm PST: “I have decided to wrap
>         up my service at ICANN July 2012”, adding “Press release soon.”
>
>         The press release
>         <http://news.dot-nxt.com/sites/news.dot-nxt.com/files/release-16aug11-en.pdf>
>         [pdf] followed 20 minutes later and comprised largely of
>         Beckstrom listing his achievements in the first and third
>         person. “I can summarize my time here in four words: strong
>         execution, great team-building,” he was quoted as saying.
>
>         Board chair Steve Crocker, who took over the post only two
>         months ago, noted that: “The Board of Directors fully supports
>         Rod through the completion of his July 2012 term.”
>
>         Behind the pronouncements lies a different storyBehind the
>         pronouncements lies a different story. It is well known in
>         ICANN circles that there has been significant concern over
>         Beckstrom’s performance for some time. And we understand that
>         Beckstrom’s “decision” was made for him at a secret Board
>         meeting earlier this month.
>
>         Unlike the three other CEOs that have presided over ICANN in
>         its 11-year history, Beckstrom lobbied hard to have his
>         contract renewed, even giving a public speech at ICANN’s most
>         recent meeting in Singapore in June listing what he had
>         achieved as CEO. Accompanying today’s press release, somewhat
>         bizarrely, is a separate PDF
>         <http://news.dot-nxt.com/sites/news.dot-nxt.com/files/factsheet-beckstrom-accomplishments-16aug11-en.pdf>
>         listing Beckstrom’s “notable accomplishments”.
>
>         *Credit score*
>
>         Ironically, it is Beckstrom’s attempt to personally attach
>         himself to all the organization’s successes that is a major
>         reason for his failure as an ICANN CEO: he is seen as too
>         quick to claim credit for others’ work and to put personal
>         promotion ahead of effective management. In two years in
>         charge, almost the entire senior management team has left.
>         Community questions as to why were met with obtuse reference
>         to industry percentages.
>
>         Having written a book lauding the power of leaderless
>         structures over traditional hierarchy – the first likened to a
>         starfish, the second to a spider – many were surprised when
>         Beckstrom created an even stronger hierarchy within ICANN,
>         with him as the head. And the bottleneck.
>
>         Beckstrom’s claim to have encouraged “great team-building”
>         were famously called into question at the organization’s
>         meeting in San FranciscoBeckstrom’s claim to have encouraged
>         “great team-building” were famously called into question at
>         the organization’s meeting in San Francisco in March this year
>         when former staff member Maria Farrell took the microphone
>         during a public forum to announce her “profound disquiet about
>         how the organization is operationally being managed” and
>         talked of a "hollowing out of expertise” and a “climate of
>         fear stalking the ICANN staff”. Her comments were met with
>         prolonged applause.
>
>         *Parachute*
>
>         Likewise, Beckstrom’s most significant claim to have
>         negotiated an historic agreement with the US government that
>         saw ICANN gain greater autonomy is largely fanciful: he was in
>         charge for less than three months before the agreement was
>         signed, whereas negotiations had been going on for 18 months
>         between ICAN
>


-- 
A while ago, I started a new blog:

...thinking it over... after 21 years in Cambodia
http://www.thinking21.org/

continuing to share reports and comments from Cambodia.

Norbert Klein
nhklein at gmx.net
Phnom Penh / Cambodia


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