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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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....
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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...

Let's take a look at the record.
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...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.
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Sincerely,



Rod Welch
rodwelch@pacbell.net