Intel Corporation
350 East Plumeria; Mail Stop CHP3-105
San Jose, CA 95124


Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2001 10:10:40 -0800


Mr. Rod Welch
rowelch@attglobal.net
The Welch Company
440 Davis Court #1602
San Francisco, CA 94111 2496

Subject:   SDS Religion Communication Knowledge Intelligence

Rod,

As usual, you twisted what I said.

I feel that my religion is based on a belief of a supreme being.

You feel yours is based on philosophy, and is a creation of man to enable him to deal with his fears. Therefore, you can define it any way you want.

SDS is not my religion. It may be yours. That is a fundamental difference between us. It is not open to much giving on my part. In the end, I don't see it makes much difference. What is the point? You believe in SDS as a replacement for God, and I don't. We can kick this around for years, but I doubt either one of us will change our positions on the subject. Such is the beauty of religion.

Comments on the marketplace are outcome based. You have been showing the product to people for 10 years. You often confuse interest and window shopping with results. People would like to have a record to make life easier. It is much like wishing to be thin and having the will and discipline to diet for 3 years. The issue is will they create the record? You have to get past this issue before there is any hope of selling this or any similar product.

Your idea of adding people to an organization goes against the corporate "goals" of increasing productivity and reducing headcount. You counter with "try a grand experiment" which the believer will have to fund for years to find results (Which may be the lack of something). Not many corporations will try such an experiment. If they do, measuring the results will be problematic.

The Psudo-sciences listed are studied by many people. They are constantly changing causation and underlying models. Studying something as complex as the human mind and behavior leaves us with at best some generalizations that are not very good at prediction. We have very limited understanding of how the mind works. Most "mind" science has been focused on studying "sick" minds. Marketing people have spent years studying how to influence people. There is no "one" way that works for everyone. This is simple evidence that there is no "scientific" model here. You and I are very complex. The arguments of Plato are compelling, but they don't result in people accepting and LIVING them. Why is SDS any better or different?

I still don't understand what alphabet technology is. Nor do I feel you understand it. I think it is a cute buzzword you have latched on. People have been writing for a long time. There are millions of links through history. They started with footnotes and margin notes. You can get to your links faster than others, but in the end, what difference has it made in your life? Is there any outcome based results that we can point to?

Preventing problems is much harder to sell than cleaning up after problems. Insurance is "purchased" after people have problems. Even those who have experienced SDS have not kept it in the organization for deployment (as opposed to personal use). I have suggested you start with people who are currently working in styles close to your "communications manager". These would be program managers and contracts managers. These areas of employment have skills and practices that make the SDS model easier to adopt. Move from there to other disciplines. I don't think you will ever achieve a tops down "conversion" of an organization. The people at the top don't work the way you do. They don't spend hours typing on a computer, and aren't going to hire people to tell them they are wrong (a challenge in organizations), but rather, people to fix things that are wrong. (We often spend time cleaning up after our boss in the real world).

I suggest you move away from changing the world with your approach, and sell an aid to those who are close to the SDS lifestyle. I feel this is the best chance to get the program in the hands of people who can really use it to a benefit.

You are still struggling with SDS as a product, or as a management/lifestyle. In the end, I assume people will work with SDS all day, exchange records with potential life partners to ensure compatible records, start an SDS family with each offspring having it's own entry in the subject index, and attend the "Church of SDS on Sundays" to commune with other records of like belief, and gain greater insight into the meaning and purpose of life as found in the grand and eternal links. (Somewhat of a joke here)

There is no "record". There are millions of them. Each person has his own. Some written, some not. Each is of different quality and interpretation. In the end, the only one that matters is the one the Boss, establishment and power entities (courts, etc.) select as the correct one, and act on. All else is arrogance and ego satisfaction.

Divorce and any number of legal proceedings show the different opinions and interpretations of events that occur every day. Even when the physical facts are not at issue. The human race is more interested in justification than in fact many times. Witness your protracted law proceedings and final outcome. You have served a service creating positions of advocacy for your clients. In the end, I am not sure everyone agrees with the record you create. Your advocacy biases the record in my opinion. It contains much opinion and summary that I don't agree with. Your record is yours. It is not mine, or anyone else's. It is of use only to you, and those who wish to depend on you.

The discussion continues,

Sincerely,

Cable Network Operation



Morris E. Jones
Business Unit Manager
morris.jones@intel.com