Talk in the senior ranks this time around is that the board's nominations and remuneration committee - chairman Don McGauchie and directors John Ralph, John Fletcher and Charles Macek - in bypassing internal candidates, might be setting Telstra up for a pre-T3 brain drain. That would mean those considering their futures would include the likes of the ambitious former local GE chief and now Telstra consumer boss, David Moffatt, the well-regarded former local IBM chief David Thodey, who now runs Telstra's government and business division, and financial tower of stability John Stanhope. Meanwhile, if the board does go for an outsider but doesn't get a signature on the line soon, it just might be setting itself up for a scenario that by necessity will include an interim or acting boss. How many execs of this calibre would be able to start in just four weeks?