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, 2002 09:33 AM Friday; Rod Welch

Paul Robinson called about Sletten Construction in SDS records.

1...Summary/Objective


..............
Click here to comment!

CONTACTS 
0201 - Sletten Construction Company         406 761 7920
020101 - Mr. Paul Robinson; Vice President
020102 - paul@sletten-inc.com
020103 - Executive Office

SUBJECTS
Sletten Construction Requests Removing Records Cites 880922
Case Study Broadwater Lessons Learned
SDS Saves Time and Money by Improving Management
Internet Object Organizational Memory Worry Accountability Confidenti
Confidentiality Fear Organizational Memory Marketing Customers Make S
Sletten Requests Removing Records on Broadwater Dam Project, Paul Rob
Robinson, Paul with Sletten Construction Inquires About SDS
Sletten Construction Inquires About SDS and Com Metrics, Paul Robinso
Contractor Reports SDS Effective on Broadwater Dam Hydro Electric Pro

2111 -    ..
2112 - Summary/Objective
2113 -
211301 - Follow up ref SDS 4 0000.
211302 -
211303 - Paul introduced himself as the coordinator on the Broadwater Dam
211304 - project.  He is now managing all of Sletten's projects, the same job
211305 - Bill Merriman held in 1988 as Sletten's Vice President.  Paul advised
211306 - that Bill was later elevated to president; he left the firm a few
211307 - years ago.
211308 -
211309 - Paul asked about removing SDS records on the Internet that report
211310 - Sletten's work.  He seemed to indicate that SDS records are accurate
211311 - and not harmful, but raise marketing concerns because customers are
211312 - not familiar with using organizational memory to manage daily work.
211313 - Paul cited the meeting on 880922 as an example. ref SDS 4 0001
211314 - ..
211315 - Sletten's concern aligns with requests by others.  On 010427 a
211316 - stock broker was asked by a colleage in New York to remove SDS records
211317 - on the Internet even though no harm was identified. ref SDS 15 0001 On
211318 - 010615 customers were shocked to find discussions on the Internet that
211319 - demonstrate competence. ref SDS 16 0001  Widespread inexperience using
211320 - organizational memory was reported on 010420. ref SDS 14 IE4M
211321 - ..
211322 - Sletten's customers for contract management are aware projects
211323 - have a lot of difficult issues, as explained in POIMS. ref OF 1 1113
211324 - Reasonable people often disagree in advancing their interests. Records
211325 - showing that Sletten pursued its interests (for example on 881102,
211326 - ref SDS 6 0629) and that the Engineer protected its client, would
211327 - therefore likely be interpreted as favorable, particularly for events
211328 - 15 years ago on Broadwater Dam, as planned in the meeting with Tudor
211329 - Engineers on 880815. ref SDS 1 E48K
211330 -
211331 - Paul indicated Broadwater Dam was a difficult project that yielded
211332 - useful experience.  He recalled SDS was effective providing a timely
211333 - record of chronology on important issues for managing daily work.  SDS
211334 - planning and diary methodology is explained in POIMS, ref OF 1 5312,
211335 - and detailed steps are reported on 001219. ref SDS 13 4W4L
211336 - ..
211337 - The Sletten team showed a lot of skill and determination doing
211338 - difficult work on the Broadwater Dam project under harsh conditions of
211339 - weather and locale, as conveyed to Bob Sletten and Bill Merriman on
211340 - 881005. ref SDS 5 LG3L
211341 - ..
211342 - Today, we reviewed the advantage of a complete record showing
211343 - the evolution of progress as a "case study" on Broadwater Dam.  While
211344 - one record or another may be difficult, the lessons learned from the
211345 - overall context are helpful for everyone, as shown in the case study
211346 - reported on 990316. ref SDS 12 0001
211347 -
211348 - An example is the record showing the Engineer and the State viewed
211349 - Sletten as problematic (see on 880815, ref SDS 1 7301).  Later, on
211350 - 880921 Tudor was warned that Voith was a bigger problem. ref SDS 3
211351 - 8526  Warnings were ignored which compounded damages.  The State
211352 - eventually gained partial recovery from Voith and Tudor for failure to
211353 - perform.  Last year on 010725 Wayne Wetzel issued analysis of the
211354 - project upon retiring as Deputy Director of DNRC. ref SDS 17 WJ7L
211355 -
211356 - Another example showing benefits of good management is a case study by
211357 - USACE on 970328 for the Oakland Harbor project where SDS was used in a
211358 - similar manner to Broadwater. ref OF 2 6172  Lessons learned from
211359 - these projects reflect a case study on the Columbia Space Shuttle
211360 - disaster in 1986, as reported on 921021. ref SDS 7 4499  Case studies
211361 - help busy executives grasp the need for proactive management that adds
211362 - "intelligence" to daily information in order to avoid future problems,
211363 - noted by General Hatch on 951230. ref SDS 10 9403  Earlier on 940609
211364 - Henry Kissinger made the same point. ref SDS 8 4238  Therefore, it is
211365 - helpful to retain the Broadwater Dam record.
211366 - ..
211367 - I asked Paul for suggestions on edits to maintain the integrity
211368 - of the record, and also present Sletten in a manner the company wants
211369 - to convey.
211370 -
211371 - Paul indicated it would be okay to leave the record as presently
211372 - shown, with the understanding that Sletten can submit suggestions for
211373 - edits at any time.
211374 - ..
211375 - This position aligns with Ed Traille's comments on 010907 asking
211376 - about SDS records concerning S J Gallina & Company. ref SDS 18 0001
211377 -
211378 - Paul indicated SDS might be helpful on Sletten projects, and asked for
211379 - more information on implementation described as Communication Metrics,
211380 - reported on 950327. ref SDS 9 0001
211381 - ..
211382 - Submitted ref DIT 1 0001 to Paul linked to this record, and to
211383 - Welch publications listing the initial study published by USACE on Com
211384 - Metrics, ref OF 2 6172, and the follow up report on cost savings,
211385 - ref DRP 1 0001, received on 971008. ref SDS 11 2979
211386 -
211387 - Cited POIMS to explain objectives and application of SDS. ref OF 1
211388 - 6221  Improving project management is also reviewed. ref OF 1 1113
211389 -
211390 -      [On 020513 submitted email to follow up about Paul's reaction to
211391 -      POIMS. ref SDS 19 0001
211392 -
211393 -
211394 -
211395 -
211396 -
211397 -
211398 -
211399 -
211400 -
2115 -
Distribution. . . . See "CONTACTS"