What you can and can't do in 39 days

The court order for the sale of the assets of General Motors went into effect a few days ago, 39 days after GM filed for Chapter 11 protection, paving the way for the new and improved GM to start business. That's a remarkably short time. Particularly when you compare it to how long it takes to do some other things, like creating, editing and issuing a technology standard. If GM can do it in 39 days, why can't standards groups do it in anything less than a few years?

Apparently it's possible to get a huge company through bankruptcy in only 39 days. It's too bad you can't complete a standard in the same amount of time.