THE WELCH COMPANY
440 Davis Court #1602
San Francisco, CA 94111-2496
415 781 5700
Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 01:59:12 -0700
03 00050 61 02092001
Mr. David J. Snowden
Director
snowded@uk.ibm.com
Cynefin Centre
IBM Global Services
Street address
City, St Zip
..
Subject:
Bridge to a New Way of Working Begins with Study
Dear Dave,
Thanks for
your letter today, and
generous offer to
comment further
under favorable circumstances. I agree that using
links with a dial-up line is a problem. In response, I will discuss
the linking issue generally, and provide a number of links which
merely support, and are not essential for understanding the
narrative. If time and cost permit, follow the links, otherwise not
to worry. The penultimate link, however, provides access to a story
that aids understanding an important KM issue, so you might want to
bite the bullet and take a look, if time permits.
..
First, can you point to a record showing an example or two where a "KM"
program is being used at IBM or anywhere? For example, a
letter
on July 8, 2002 (a copy was sent to you) lists SDS work product applied to a
wide range of fields and tasks. Are there examples of other work product
showing people save time and money
using another KM program? Seeing what other people are doing is
helpful, so your assistance is appreciated.
..
The point I am reaching for can grasped by recognizing that everywhere SDS has
been used, it has been abandoned. However, I use it 24 7, and am using it now.
From what I have seen of other
KM efforts, even the developers abandon them,
as reported on April 20, 2000 in the case of CRIT.
..
Another example is
Traction,
reviewed on November 2, 2001 where in my opinion
the program has some elements that are needed for KM, but there is no
evidence that even the developers use it.
..
On the other hand, Jeff Conklin, who is recognized for expertise in KM, noticed
on November 5, 2001 that
SDS demonstrates ability to perform KM consistently
that is missing in other efforts, as noted by
Jack Park
in a letter on
November 30, 2000.
..
So, if you know of anyone who has used something else for KM over a span of
months and years, please let me know. (by copy I am asking Jeff to comment, as
well, to help ensure a complete record)
..
I agree that cost to income is a critical factor, as you point out.
USACE reported on October 7, 1997 that
SDS enables ROI of 10:1,
reflecting the added value of converting information into knowledge that avoids
mistakes, and so avoids the cost of rework.
..
Most everybody asks why USACE abandoned SDS, if they determined it saved money
at the rate of $10 for every $1 of expense?
Tom Munnecke
asked about this
recently on September 11, echoing a question asked by
Pat Lincoln
at SRI on
May 17, 2001
..
Let's take a moment to consider complaints about links. Granting your
concern about slow access, it is difficult to see how links can be
anything but a net positive ingredient in the effort to advance from
information to knowledge. I am trying to provide a basic explanation,
and empower the reader to obtain support and context, if that is
needed. Sometimes I fail in providing an adequate narrative, but this
is not the fault of using technology. Linking aids the mind in making
the right connections. Regardless of what is written, or how much,
the mind will connect what it encounters with its own experience in
order to construct meaning. Expanding span of attention by adding
links to relevant history helps avoid making the wrong connections.
It is not fool proof, but rather is an aid that helps reduce error.
That is the best that can be done.
..
Literacy
makes people superhuman, by improving upon accuracy of
orality, yet is not fool proof. People make a lot of mistakes using
information technology, especially in email, but it is still a lot
better than relying on verbal communication under the common rule:
"talk is cheap." Similarly, knowledge management that integrates time
with information strengthens the intelligence process that refines
accuracy of understanding by linking related context into chronologies
that establish reliable patterns of cause and effect, commonly called
experience. Better command of relevant experience leads to better
decisions and fewer mistakes.
.. For a more complete explanation, see
POIMS. ..
You can print it, but POIMS is designed to be read online, so that
people can experience the ideas. We cannot expect to introduce a new
way of working without doing something differently, and using some new
terms, and some familiar terms in new ways that bridge the past with
the future.
..
That is why your ideas on
knowledge as "story" and as "process" reviewed on 020608
caught my attention. I would only add that there is a lot of work
to do building a bridge between where we are today using IT, and what
can be accomplished by transformation to a new world order of KM.
..
I thought possibly you could help.
..
The place where help is needed is evident from a discussion on January 23, 1995
that explains
why PG&E dropped SDS,
and is the same basic reason that led USACE
to drop it, in a word, culture.
..
An example of culture, is the record showing that it took two years to
get an assignment with USACE, and it took another two years to get a
report saying that with "certainty" SDS saved them an additional $200K
that demonstrates the
value of knowledge,
shown in the record on
October 27, 1998.
..
The link for January 23, 1995
is the only one in this letter that really needs
to be examined in order to understand the
story of cultural inertia
that resists improvement
to save time and money. Would be fun to at
least explore if there is common ground on tackling this issue.
.. Thanks.