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



Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 20:08:42 -0700

03 00050 61 02073001




Mr. Garold L. Johnson
dynalt@dynalt.com
Dynamic Alternatives
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Subject:   SDS Deployment Com Manager Spreads Intelligence Beyond the
Sales Department to Executives, Engineering, Manufacturing

Dear Gary,

Thanks for the "experiment," shown in your letter today, to formulate what might be called a "transformation" mode between IT and KM using SDS as a content generator to provide a knowledge base that people can apply quickly without presenting a lot of links that are confusing to people in a hurry to get things done.
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The idea of POIMS is to:
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Your sample work product demonstrates a path for using the SDS record as a knowledge repository enabling people to select a few links that seem relevant at the moment using the tools they like, as in your case KeyNote, Microsoft Word, etc.
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Talked to Morris today about a business model for delivering products and services. After wrestling the thing to the ground for an hour so, Morris mentioned experience at Intel where IBM and others market "solutions," consisting of products and services. Morris explained that IBM does not have salesmen out promoting IBM's solutions, but rather waits for an executive to call IBM asking for help to place an order as a result of reading an article while flying to attend an event, or at a conference the executive hears something during a Powerpoint presentation that sounds neat and cool, as reported on February 22, 1997 when Bill Gates and Larry Ellison addressed a conference. Showing pictures also helps get the attention of our top people, as reported recently at Enron on February 4, 2002 (see below on the record showing executives dont't have time to understand content). The executive asks someone at the conference, or at a dinner party, about what they heard or read, and that person may say talk to IBM. This is how executives get ideas for saving time and money using solutions, and, as a result, contact IBM. But, if IBM contacts Intel to explain a new solution, executives feel they are being sold a bill of goods and are bombarded by too many salesmen all saying the same thing, and so don't have time to think about how to choose what will work from what won't, so they do nothing until the next seminar, dinner party or television broadcast where they hope to hear something that strikes a cord in the mind that says it is safe to investigate how to save time and money. This occurs because, while everyone has a big sales budget to take orders, as Morris describes today, nobody has a department to evaluate initiatives for improving the work.
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SDS supports a solution for Communication Metrics services to generate "intelligence" content, which everybody can then use in the manner demonstrated by Gary's sample record that fits the culture of information to rely on documents rather than Knowledge Space, but provides confidence that SDS has tied everything back to original sources, as called out by management standards, reported on July 21, 1995.
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We considered, using input from your letter the other day, that the "problem" executives need solved is that every meeting, every call, every email sows the seeds of error, resulting in continual bumbling that reduces earnings through recursive cycles of rework, as explained in POIMS. Tom Munnecke with SAIC provided a reference last week on July 26 showing Peter Senge's work identifying the danger of recursive error. Of course most executives don't frame the problem in this way. They usually say "Everything would have worked if only my people had told me the truth" reported on April 12, 1995.
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But, in more sobering moments many execs admit that they don't have enough time to think about all of the connections that impact productivity, earnings and stock prices, while hurrying to the next meeting, to catch the next plane or to make the 2pm tee time, as reported during a professional event on September 10, 1997. So, they use the 20 80 method taught at seminars and in MBA class. Some, however, are beginning to realize that thinking to connect the dots of cause and effect is critical on the job, otherwise things fall through the cracks, and before you know it the budget is blown and the schedule is a shambles, as you related on October 6, 2001.
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So, conceivably it might be possible to provide low level support using SDS to create the data base that people don't have enough time nor tools to create for themselves to align communication with objectives, requirements and commitments, that complements using accountants for creating a data base that makes sure daily finances are aligned with budgets, as explained in NWO. People can then reference the few links needed in the moment, knowing that the underlying record is fully aligned. This helps overcome worry that too many links are confusing, per your letter today.
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Morris points out that "intelligence" is part of operations. Executives and others are uncomfortable with support to generate content connected with the knowledge repository so that operations are aligned with organizational memory, Aversion to intelligence support for operations appears conflicting on two (2) grounds...

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  1. On January 3, 1996 Dave Vannier at Intel explained that executives do not have time to understand content of presentations, so they base decisions on style and image. A few years earlier on April 2, 1992 a similar report indicated that working intelligently conflicts with style and image at IBM. Later on September 10, 1997 executives complained there is not enough time to think, confirming the earlier report at Intel, and supporting practices at IBM to rely on style and image. Henry Kissinger notes, however, that not having enough time to think causes an Alice in Wonderland of bumbling, reviewed on June 9, 1994. More recently, On February 4 of this year, style and image that was not backed up by intelligence caused Enron to collapse into bankruptcy, adding weight to Kissinger's concern about the usefulness of intelligence.
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  2. Morris mentioned today that Intel uses Lotus Notes for sales people to capture the record of transactions. Salesman don't get paid until the record is entered. This procedure recognizes that working intelligently adds value. It empowers the Intel sales department to use methods for saving time and money worked out by Chairman, Andy Grove, who says in his book "Only the Paranoid Survive," reviewed on March 7, 1998, that capturing daily intelligence by writing copious notes avoids mistakes caused by the ambiguity of mental maps. Grove's innovation, noted by Morris today, of linking payment to production of intelligence solves the innovation loop he described, where people, left to themselves, continue to work on familiar things in familiar ways. Grove's new solution of positive incentives complements the negative incentives he described for empowering people to improve by replacing those who hesitate.

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Under this record, executives might welcome support that enables people to work intelligently so that there is less bumbling, yet, also, more time for style and image. The hunger for intelligence to transform the sales department could, as well, transform the executive office, the engineering department and manufacturing. If intelligence is so effective for making a sale that people don't get paid unless they enter the record, working intelligently might be equally useful for designing and manufacturing the products that are sold; or, for doing a merger, like Enron did so well, as reported on February 4, 2002.
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It was not clear in the discussion today with Morris why sales is the only place where working intelligently can save time and money. If the salesman has to fill out the record to get paid, why wouldn't this help the engineer, the foreman, the finance manager, the CEO and the president remember important details, rather than show up before Congress and not be prepared to remember how to spell their name, nor what they had for breakfast, much less critical details that destroyed the company, lost fortunes of investors, and devastated employee retirement benefits, as occurred at Enron, reported on February 4, 2002?
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Using a Com Manager to help the CEO, the foreman, the Vice President, and the engineer fill out the record in order to get paid, holds the potential to bring these units up to par with the sales department, so that everybody is working intelligently to save time and money. It solves the problem noticed by Andy Grove on May 27, 1999 that people on the job don't like to read. Two days earlier there was a report that writing is also a problem. Just about a year ago, on June 19, 2001 the government is trying to get people who manage the design, production and deployment of defense systems to use literacy,, reflecting analysis on November 8, 1999 showing that cultural pressures on the job suppress literacy.
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Jack talked about "possibilities" in the 3-layer architecture. Possibly the idea that SDS makes it fast and easy to create connections, as Eric noted on September 16, 2001, would fly, and then as you say, these can be held in the background by people on the job producing conventional content. That sort of sounds like a version of Jack's three (3) layer architecture presented during the meeting at SRI on May 18, 2000.
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The Com Manager "service" enables a few people to make sure all the links are in place that line everything up with objectives, requirements and commitments, so that everybody else can get on with things without being burdened by all of the links, but only use the ones they need at the moment. At another moment people will need other links, and this is in the underlying record as a resource when needed, sort of like a knowledge repository.
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If I am following the example in your letter today, enabling people to select just the links needed for a particular matter at a particular moment, and be shielded from all of the other links that comprise comprehensive understanding to triangulate accuracy, as explained in POIMS, this process accomplishes the scope for judicious review reported on April 19, 1999 to enable clear, concise, complete communication that provides guidelines for opening links.
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Since, Eric has been the master architect of this issue, possibly he will have helpful guidance, so by copy will ask for collaboration from Eric. Morris can also contribute, since he is on the ground dealing with a lot of documents everyday, as you relate in the sample material. Maybe we can "bottle" this thing.

Thanks.
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Sincerely,

THE WELCH COMPANY




Rod Welch
rowelch@attglobal.net
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Copy to:
  1. OHS/DKR, SRI, ba-ohs-talk@bootstrap.org
  2. Jones, Morris E., morris.jones@intel.com