THE WELCH COMPANY
440 Davis Court #1602
San Francisco, CA 94111-2496
415 781 5700


Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 21:55:33 -0700

03 00050 61 02061802




Mr. Garold L. Johnson
dynalt@dynalt.com
Dynamic Alternatives
http://www.dynalt.com/
City, St Zip
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Subject:   Com Manager Role

Dear Gary,

You have raised an important question in your letter today (see below) about how a Com Manager interacts with the existing organizational staff, and how many people one Com Manager can support? This explanation reflects your experience related previously on the Boeing ISS project and other large projects.
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The record on June 3, 1997 for a meeting at Intel has an overview of the Com Manager role.
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There is a diagram and more narrative in the same record that shows how the Com Manager complements traditional management.
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Several questions remain, however, until people get actual experience, because no matter how well things are explained, since intelligence is a new role in business, as set out in NWO, people need experience to understand what takes place and how it saves time and money.
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See for example Tom Keesling's remarks a few months after Com Metrics was underway, and after getting 9 months of explanations of what it would be like.
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One of the most frequently asked questions is does the Com Manager enter all the past history into SDS in order for Com Metrics to be effective in managing organizational memory, and is addressed in the record on June 28, 1994.
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Another FAQ is how long does it take for everybody to learn Com Metrics and overcome resistance to changing their way of doing things?
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The Com Metrics model of applying SDS doesn't require anyone to learn anything nor to change anything about their work practice. Com Metrics improves performance using what people already know and the methods they are presently using, because instead of spreading guess and gossip in meetings, calls and email, the team begins to have a resource for working intelligently. This means people continue with present skills using Windows, Word, email, Powerpoint, etc. The Com Manager uses this work product as input for creating intelligence that guides conduct of the work on critical issues that impact productivity, earnings and legal exposure.
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There is a review and setup period of time needed to get started that varies from a few days to a week or so to examine contracts and other instruments and get briefed on objectives, requirements and commitments necessary to set up the initial organic structure.
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Day-to-day the work largely entails attending meetings, visiting with staff to check understandings, point out risks and opportunities, preparing the record, planning action items, briefing people on the record to prepare them for meetings and calls, and writing correspondence for others to issue (on a government contract this would be the contracting officer or ACO) that reflects the record in a way that encourages timely performance, and recognizes legal exposure. See for example the record on December 5, 1991.
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Most of the Com Manager's time is using the eight (8) steps for creating the record to improve memory and understanding, commonly called listening, reported on December 19, 2000 Creating structure and identifying context makes information useful and efficient for busy people to use. Busy people don't have a lot of time for thinking and so typically do not engage the SDS record directly (commenting on your specific question). Therefore facilitating thinking saves time and money by avoiding mistakes. Tying things together and checking alignment reveals a constant stream of action items to correct small deviations before they become big problems. Avoiding big problems is the biggest source of saving time and money under Aristotle's rule set out in the New World Order... The Com Manager solves common experience reported on November 27, 1992 where seemingly inconsequential details become major problems as small leaks of time and money become a flood of crisis, conflict and calamity.
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The Com Manager contacts affected people to gather information for planning and positioning the record in a constructive way. The Com Manager expands span of attention by helping people think through solutions that align with objectives, requirements and commitments. Sometimes the Com Manager conducts a meeting to mentor people on how to use the record for an effective meeting, occasionally, the Com Manger may ask a question or two to facilitate progress.
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The record is always issued in the name of assigned staff. The Com Manager's name never or rarely appears in the record. The record strives to make everyone look good, and by helping people be aware of work history in relation to objectives, requirements and commitments, this can largely be accomplished so that things get done correctly on time and within budget.
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How many people can a Com Manager help?

It depends on the organization structure. On the CDWR project with PG&E, one person helped several hundred to perhaps a thousand, because the record was prepared for a small group, but it was distributed widely within PG&E and within the State of California to their project staff. This goes to your point on October 6, 2001 about how to help big organizations, like Boeing, Lockheed, IBM, Microsoft, etc., avoid continual problems.
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See, for example, results reported on December 8, 1994.
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Similar results occurred with USACE, where one person supported a small group of 10 or 20, but spread out to hundreds who reviewed the record directly counting contractor, subcontractors, Port of Oakland, State of California, outside consultants, and so on.
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So, the key is placing the Com Manager at the strategic position where communication emanates to everyone, and where decisions on taking action occur that impact value at risk.
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The Com Manager does not attend every meeting nor listen in on every call, nor see every email. The Com Manager decides in consultation with the lead customer rep, e.g., a manager, CEO, VP, Director, Commander, etc., where and when support is needed based on the state of the record. See for example discussion with Max Blodgett at USACE on September 24, 1996.
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By issuing the record of a few key meetings, the Com Manager ties together all prior communication that impact the meeting and provides a focused expression that guides action in relation to objectives, requirements and commitments under a theory of Command and Control of the Record, as explained in POIMS.
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The strength of the process is that just as bad management infects every aspect of performance, causing a downward spiral reported by Gary Johnson on October 6, 2001, so, too, working intelligently, as reported by the US Army Corps of Engineers, is leveraged by the same army of people spreading accurate understandings that are aligned with objectives, requirements and commitments.
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Another good source for understanding this role is the explanation prepared by a DOD program manager and entered in the record on February 17, 2002, responding to an earlier question you raised along the same lines.
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Of course we created the scope of services to precisely explain the Com Manager role and deliverables.

Let me know if have any questions.
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Rod

Sincerely,

THE WELCH COMPANY



Rod Welch
rowelch@attglobal.net


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Post Script

Since you mentioned the FSR role, am sending a copy to Stuart at DCMA because he has asked about this, and may have been asked by others.
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Also sent copies to a few other folks who have asked about this role, and to some staff at PG&E, and USACE shown above whom you can ask to get their perspective. For example Max, Leonard and Herb have correspondence in the record on this.
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Wayne Wetzel, now retired, has written extensively on the role of Com Manager based on experience at DNRC over many years.
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Copy to:

  1. Harrow, Stuart, SHarrow@DCMDE.DCMA.MIL
  2. DeHart, Bill, wkd1@pge.com
  3. Blodgett, Max R, Max.R.Blodgett@spd02.usace.army.mil
  4. Cheong, Herb, hcheong@smtp.spd.usace.army.mil
  5. Pate-Cornell, Elisabeth, mep@leland.stanford.edu
  6. Snowden, Dave, SNOWDED@uk.ibm.com
  7. SooHoo, Leonard, lsoohoo@smtp.spd.usace.army.mil
  8. Wetzel, Wayne, wwetzel@mt.blm.gov



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