Now having read your reply, I think we’re likely closer together than apart on views. But...
But the question of board choice is firstly a question of who should be given legal control of EA organisations.
I don’t think this is how I see the question of board choice in practice. In theory yes, for the specific legal, hard mechanisms you mention. But in practice in my experience boards significantly check and challenge direction of the organisation, so the collective ability of board members to do this should be factored in appointment decisions which may trade off against legal control being put in the ‘safest pair of hands’.
That said, I feel back and forth responses on the EA forum may be exhausting their value here; I feel I’d have more to say in a brainstorm about potential trade-offs between legal control and ability to check and challenge, and open to discussing further if helpful to some concrete issue at hand :)
Yes, legal control is the first consideration, but governance requires skill not just value-alignment
I think in 2023 the skills you want largely exist within the community; it’s just that (a) people can’t find them easily (hence I founded the EA Good Governance Project) and (b) people need to be willing to appoint outside their clique
Now having read your reply, I think we’re likely closer together than apart on views. But...
I don’t think this is how I see the question of board choice in practice. In theory yes, for the specific legal, hard mechanisms you mention. But in practice in my experience boards significantly check and challenge direction of the organisation, so the collective ability of board members to do this should be factored in appointment decisions which may trade off against legal control being put in the ‘safest pair of hands’.
That said, I feel back and forth responses on the EA forum may be exhausting their value here; I feel I’d have more to say in a brainstorm about potential trade-offs between legal control and ability to check and challenge, and open to discussing further if helpful to some concrete issue at hand :)
Two quick points:
Yes, legal control is the first consideration, but governance requires skill not just value-alignment
I think in 2023 the skills you want largely exist within the community; it’s just that (a) people can’t find them easily (hence I founded the EA Good Governance Project) and (b) people need to be willing to appoint outside their clique