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


S U M M A R Y


DIARY: April 26, 2000 06:46 AM Wednesday; Rod Welch

Letter to Mike at IBM; call Jack Park about Com Metrics and SDS.

1...Summary/Objective


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CONTACTS 
0201 - IBM Almaden Research Center          408 927 1898
020101 - Mr. Michael C. Wirth, Ph.D.; Manager USR Software =408 927 1898
020102 - wirth@almaden.ibm.com
020103 - User Systems Ergonomics Research

SUBJECTS
Sponsor/Stakeholder Planning
IBM, SDS Trial with OS2 in Boca
Alliances on Development
Killer App, What Testing, Study to Discover Useful Technology
Killer Application = Entertainment + Usefull
IBM Almaden Research Center
Project Management Help, Welch, Rod

1309 -    ..
1310 - Summary/Objective
1311 -
131101 - Follow up ref SDS 72 0000, ref SDS 70 0000.
131102 -
131103 - Called Jack and left another message following up my discussion with
131104 - Mike at IBM on 000423. ref SDS 72 0001
131105 -
131106 - Also called Mike at IBM and left a voice mail asking about his reivew
131107 - of SDS on the Internet as a result of our telecon on 000421.
131108 - ref SDS 72 1848
131109 -
131110 - Submitted ref DIT 1 0001 to Mike confirming my voice mail and asking
131111 - if he has completed review of SDS and POIMS from my letter on 000419.
131112 - ref SDS 70 0001  Cite letter from Cliff Joslyn yesterday, indicating
131113 - interest in SDS. ref SDS 56 4839  Cited telecon with John at LALN on
131114 - 000331. ref SDS 75 0001
131115 -
131116 -
131117 -
131118 -
131119 -  ..
1312 -
1313 -
1314 - 0727 Jack called back
1315 -
131501 - Jack indicated concern about lack of focus on core issues.
131502 -
131503 - We considered that efforts to help the team focus on core issues,
131504 - beginning on...
131505 -
131506 -     000120, ref SDS 25 5063,
131507 -
131508 -     000208, ref SDS 31 4905,
131509 -
131510 -     000227, ref SDS 37 0897,
131511 -
131512 -     000317, ref SDS 45 0001,
131513 -
131514 -     000407, ref SDS 65 0001,
131515 -
131516 - ...have failed.  Essentially, people are talking about things that
131517 - seem interesting at the moment.  Nobody has an assignment to produce
131518 - anything that can then be used to build upon for a next step.
131519 -
131520 - Eric cited an "innovation" on 000212, ref SDS 33 9790, but never
131521 - followed up.
131522 -
131523 - Similarly, Doug's writings discuss the prospect of KM innovations, but
131524 - none are evident in his work.  This reflects the lack of a fundmental
131525 - core or conceptual framework that converts information into knowledge.
131526 - Doug's life work to champion these ideas deserves credit, but unless
131527 - that core engine of knowledge is applied, no progress can occur.
131528 -
131529 - Key tasks Doug has given the "seed" group to define "knowledge" on
131530 - 000307, ref SDS 40 4820, on 000327, ref SDS 52 3971, and most recently
131531 - on 000419, ref SDS 71 4964, have not spawned action, nor even any
131532 - discussion among the Colloquium group.
131533 -
131534 - This reflects a fundamental fact.
131535 -
131536 -     Open source development cannot move forward on difficult ideas.
131537 -
131538 -     People working on their own will always work on their own ideas.
131539 -
131540 -     To move forward on KM requires getting people to work on things
131541 -     they do not understand, and often outright reject as fruitful,
131542 -     until a critical mass of stuff is developed that makes the end
131543 -     result apparent.
131544 -
131545 -     This requires leadership and management.  That takes investment,
131546 -     and investment must have a reward scheme to drive the energy and
131547 -     resources required for success.
131548 -
131549 -
131550 - Jack mentioned that there is a debate about open standards and open
131551 - source.
131552 -
131553 - Open standards seems like a more viable direction.
131554 -
131562 -
131563 - We reviewed a scenario where a stronger implementation of SDS is
131564 - created, e.g., Windows, possibly XML, and then that is provided to
131565 - Doug's team for open source development.
131566 - ..
131567 - Jack indicated he has been talking to Doug and others about
131568 - placing Welch in charge of the project, following our discussion at
131569 - the meeting on 000406. ref SDS 63 6783
131570 -
131571 - We considered a few challenges...
131572 -
131573 -    1.  Such an assignment is a full time job that needs a revenue
131574 -        stream, per Eric's analysis on 000423. ref SDS 73 2214 and
131575 -        ref SDS 73 7440
131576 -
131577 -    2.  The effort would use SDS for project management, enabling staff
131578 -        to learn about knowledge and intelligence for the purpose of
131579 -        creating a DKR.
131580 -
131581 -    3.  SRI would not be a good vehicle for daily management, because
131582 -        of its size and culture.  Doug reported on 000419 that SRI will
131583 -        provide project management, which means control of the work by
131584 -        people who have a lot of other things on their mind.
131585 -        ref SDS 71 1540
131586 -
131587 -    4.  Doug's strong presence makes it difficult for anyone else to
131588 -        exercise effective authority, per analysis yesterday.
131589 -        ref Sds 74 3672
131590 -
131591 - Jack feels attention is needed on the arrangements SRI would require
131592 - to support the project in relation to control and participation.
131593 -
131594 - This discussion reflects planning issues layed out on 000324.
131595 - ref SDS 48 5482
131596 -
131597 - We need a business and project management plan that addresses the
131598 - issues from the meeting on 000324, specifically revenue, authority,
131599 - people and participation.
131600 -
131601 -      [On 000509 Eric reviews this issue. ref SDS 76 0784
131602 -
131603 -      [On 000711 Pat Lincoln proposes that Welch lead project
131604 -      development. ref SDS 77 2385
131605 -
131606 -
131607 -
131608 -
131609 -
131610 -
131611 -
131612 -
Distribution. . . . See "CONTACTS"