Leigh
Dec 23, 2025 - Apr 9, 2026
7
Decisions
0
Active Todos
8
Patterns
Categories
Decisions (7)
RESF Restructure - Confirmed Proceeding Despite Greg's Hesitation
Confirmed CIQ should proceed with the Dieter RESF restructure plan, overriding Greg's expressed concern that the restructure doc might disrupt RESF's current momentum under Leigh. Bjorn aligned with Peter. Greg deferred rather than blocking.
RESF — Orchestrated demand-pull approach for CIQ help
Directed that CIQ help should come through RESF team requests (especially Taylor/Sherif) rather than being imposed from above. Reinforced 'CIQ will help if you ask' messaging through Greg and Leigh. Wants RESF work driven like a project with visibility into requests.
RESF — Committed CIQ resources (Dieter/Nathan) and proposed tech lead structure
Committed Dieter and Nathan to near-full-time RESF work. Proposed Dieter as RESF tech lead reporting to Peter for ~1 year. Told Leigh both are available immediately (Dieter now, Nathan when back from vacation). Scheduled Tuesday alignment meeting with Greg/Bjorn/Max to formalize structure and authority. Briefed Max on strategy: unified front with Bjorn, carrots and sticks approach for Greg meeting.
RESF Monday Cutover — Finalized 3 PM PT Execution Plan
Finalized the RESF infrastructure cutover plan for Monday March 16 at 3 PM PT, including DNS NS record flip, AWS VPC firewalling, account disabling (Lewis, Neal), and security audit — accepting up to 24 hours of DNS-related downtime.
Committed to RESF day-of execution planning meeting next week
Committed in #internal-resf-escalation to organizing a meeting next week to build an execution plan for the RESF day-of lockdown. Directed Sarah to invite Nathan, Max, Justin, and Dieter. Bjorn is finishing messaging drafts this weekend, so technical execution planning must be ready to match the communication track.
RESF Management Model Needed
Identified that RESF needs a clear management person or model as part of short-term response. The lord of the flies approach does not work. Does not matter if its Leigh or someone else, as long as they have personal energy/bandwidth. But it needs to be managed/run with clear accountability.
RESF Crisis Response - Infrastructure Independence
After learning of hostile plans by RESF board members (Louis, Neil, Brian Clemens) to publicly attack CIQ, dismantle Rocky Linux infrastructure, and damage the project, initiated emergency response to replicate RESF infrastructure for Rocky 8, 9, 10 with minimal team awareness.
Related Patterns (8)
Executive Sponsorship for Strategic Partnerships
Strategic cross-company initiatives and major client partnerships require executive-level accountability to move at the right pace and ensure proper prioritization.
Small Circle for Sensitive Operations
When executing sensitive strategic operations, keep the circle of informed people as small as possible to prevent leaks that could accelerate hostile action or undermine the initiative.
Protect Engineering Capacity
When external demands threaten to overload engineering capacity, protect capacity by either requiring the demand to come with additional resources, or forcing hard prioritization choices upstream.
Proactive Talent Pipeline Investment
Invest in building leadership bench and talent relationships before there is an urgent need. Use proven relationships from past experience to create optionality.
Lead by Example with New Tools
When championing new tools or processes, personally use them and share results rather than just advocating. Learning by doing and demonstrating value through example is more effective than mandates.
Accountability Follow-Through
When you issue a warning or mandate with stated consequences, you follow through. Warnings are not threats - they are commitments. The credibility of future accountability depends on following through now.
Protect Engineering Focus Through Process
When faced with requests that would disrupt engineering focus (from sales, governance, product, or other stakeholders), establish processes that protect engineering ability to innovate while still satisfying legitimate concerns. Prefer systematic solutions over ad-hoc responses.
Three-Lever Talent Management
When pursuing a velocity or performance mandate, simultaneously operate on all three talent levers — upgrade (hire better), retain (protect key people), and exit (remove blockers) — rather than sequentially. This creates compounding momentum: exits free capacity for upgrades, retention preserves institutional knowledge during transitions, and upgrades raise the performance bar that justifies further exits.