THE WELCH COMPANY
440 Davis Court #1602
San Francisco, CA 94111-2496
415 781 5700
Monday, September 30, 2002 11:06 AM
03 00050 61 02093001
Mr. Morris E. Jones
morris.jones@intel.com
Intel Corporation
2200 Mission College Blvd
Santa Clara, CA 95052 8119
..
Subject:
From Information to a Cultural of Knowledge
Accuracy On or Off Has Consequences
Dear Morris,
I liked the explanation in
your letter today about
transformation over the past 30 years from reliance on human
intelligence that expands knowledge, to, instead, using
technology that stifles knowledge by storing information
beyond the reach of intelligence, where it is ignored until a
dispute occurs that forces examination of the record.
This change, from using intelligence to
convert information into knowledge, to storing information
beyond the reach of intelligence, explains current work
practices that
ignore accuracy
because critical details are
beyond reach, as related a month ago on August 20. The letter a few days ago
on September 27 demonstrates how these ominous
trends toward ignoring accuracy
reverse a cultural imperative
extending over two (2) millennia to
understand and follow up communication accurately.
You recognized, for example, on August 9, 1989 that
people pay a price for failing to pay the cost of good management
that requires accurate understanding and timely follow up,
summarized by the common sense notion of
listening. ..
Your letter today shines a light on the dark secret of
technology that compounds
meaning drift,
explained in POIMS, to cause error, loss, conflict, crisis and
calamity because information is stored
beyond the reach of intelligence needed for understanding and
follow up, which you noted in
our call
on April 6, 1996. This loss of intelligence can only be repaired by once
again giving priority to accurate understanding through
transformation from information to a
culture of knowledge, as explained in POIMS.
Peter Drucker says largely the same thing in his article reviewed on
October 25, 1999
that calls for using technology to routinize good
management based on
cognitive science. ..
Consider, for example, that in order for the tradition of dictation to have
formed, either by an aide, such as a scribe or secretary, or using technology,
like a tape recorder or a computer, there must have been a perceived need
for an accurate record, as shown by the case
study citing the movie The Maltese Falcon in the letter on
September 27, 2002 The cultural imperative to get an an
accurate record
extends over 2,000 years using alphabet
technology to replace poetry, speech, and exaggeration in
fables and allegory for
making information memorable,
i.e., to improve accuracy of innate human memory. As reported on
November 8, 1999 the ability to use literacy for
an accurate record that enables analysis to plan
future action was an
explosive change in the culture that lifted civilization.
..
One can imagine that when the record was taken down by a
stenographer, this required investing time for someone to
review, first, when it was transcribed, and later
by participants to verify accuracy and follow up on
action items. Even if formal review did not occur
often due to ignorance, fear and denial that becomes a
slippery slope to laziness,
per your letter today,
the process of transcribing in the first instance would
have disclosed particular issues that resulted in notice for
further attention. Even this weak process expands span of
attention to strengthen accuracy of understanding relative to
present practice.
..
Substituting high technology, like
a dictation machine, or tape recorder, seems like
an improvement to get an accurate record that reduces cost
by eliminating the need for labor to capture the record.
Savings in labor cost, however, are illusory because eliminating
steps that apply the power of mental metrics for review prevent
expanding
span of attention,
which is the weak link in management, as explained in POIMS. Failure to
invest time for
deliberative analysis,
also explained in POIMS, prevents discovering details that seem
small and inconsequential "during the heat of battle," but
actually present opportunities that require follow up to save
time and money when viewed from a different context. Recall,
for example, our visit on November 27, 1992
when you complained that
little, inconsequential details
later become major problems?
This underscores your point today that when a
tape recording is stored away, there is
no immediate access.
There is no review that otherwise enables
concurrent discovery and timely notice to avoid problems, and
so the record becomes only a threat that others will discover
something was overlooked due to lack of diligence in
proactively expanding span of attention, as occurs when a
record is examined by a human mind during transcription and
subsequent review, as we discussed on February 4, 1995,
when you asked about mental
metrics
for communication.
..
Of course, as you noted on September 24, 2001,
effective
management requires more than merely an accurate record.
Perhaps limitations of the old-style process that omitted
making connections to expressly reveal cause and effect by
constructing an audit trail with links showing traceability to
original sources, as used in the Bible and in the law, began
to seem too slow and stodgy in relation to the way technology
seems to speed up everything else. Impatience
and frustration combined with competition to reduce cost are
powerful forces to
abandon past practices
for ensuring accurate communications,
as shown in the movies
cited a few days ago on September 27. Another factor is ignorance
about cognitive science that explains how mental metrics
calculate cause and effect by connecting new information with
relevant experience. Cognitive science only began to be
formalized in the 1950s with publication of George Miller's
seminal treatise on the
limitations of human memory,
citing the
rule of seven (7), reviewed on March 3, 1999.
In our call on November 29, 2001,
you mentioned having worked on a
military
project years ago that applied research on span of
attention
to limit the number gauges an airplane pilot can
accurately manage under duress in combat. As
the pace of daily life increases, lack of technology that
makes adding intelligence to information fast, easy and fun,
means that accurate communication takes more time and effort,
leading to the common lament....
..
I don't have time think!
...cited in
POIMS,
and in
NWO,. You may recall we
discussed this issue in
our call
on November 29, 2001.
..
When good management takes too much diligence to keep up with
faster information technology, good management begins to seem beyond
reach, and so creates an overwhelming tendency to escape
responsibility through denial, by calling good management
unnecessary overkill,
as you indicate today,
and discussed earlier on February 4, 1995.
..
Yet, today, when there is far more to remember than ever
before,
how can the need for accuracy have declined,
as argued
so strongly by some in recent days and weeks and shown in the record on
September 24, 2002? Indeed, fear of accountability for the truth
attacking deep pockets,
which you mention today,
may begin to dissipate in a
race to the bottom,
as productivity,
earnings and stock prices decline, reported on February 4, 2002.
Clearly cultural change that turns away from
accuracy is an awfully slippery slope to continual bumbling
that escalates into a critical mass of widening collapse, as
occurred at
Enron,
also reported on February 4, 2002. Tragic events on September 11, 2001
further remind of the
devastating cost people pay
when denial prevents paying the price of good management.
These dots along the vast timeline of history
remind of Tom Munnecke's observation a few weeks ago on September 16
despairing that the
only way to improve health care is for the entire system to
collapse.
Hopefully, Tom's calculations are off a few decimal places, but as Vice
President of SAIC, one of the nations premier research institutions, his views
cannot be dismissed as mere alarmist
chatter. Perhaps we are just going through a phase, a fad,
where it has become fashionable for executives to appear more
capable than human cognition permits under the story of the
Emperor Who Wore No Cloths,
reviewed for a professional
event on October 11, 1995 where IBM presented empty plans for improving
productivity with new technology.
..
Perhaps one day, before complete collapse, someone will stand
up at the meeting, and rather than
yell and holler using
confrontation
methods applied at Intel meetings,
described on January 23, 1997, will, instead, say
to Craig Barrett, the CEO, or to Andy Grove, the Chairman of
the Board...
..
...as shown in the Typical Day Scenario using SDS, and then
provide some links, like Hansel and Gretle used, that enable
people to find their way back home, through the forest of
daily information, by linking relevant contextual history to
objectives, requirements and commitments, similar to the way
people
discover truth and enlightenment at church,
explained
in NWO, and in the
court house.
Of course, this takes leadership with a broader vision and
courage to stand up for accuracy against the gathering tide of
feel good management,
which you defined on November 23, 1991.
Grove's talk of diligence and courage may make Intel a good
place to start the long march back from the brink by
leading the way
out of the darkness
of ignorance, fear and denial, and into the light toward a
cultural of knowledge.
..
Sincerely,