CONTACTS 
0201 - Meeting Maker                                                                                                                                                      O-00000803 0401
020101 - Mr. Jim Reekes; Vice President                                                                                                                                   O-00000803 0401
020103 - Products Department                                                                                                                                              O-00000803 0401

SUBJECTS
Meeting Maker Jim Reekes, VP Working on Expanding Scheduling Program
Planning to Follow up on Inquiry about SDS

0804 -
0804 -    ..
0805 - Summary/Objective
0806 -
080601 - Follow up ref SDS 18 0000, ref SDS 17 0000.
080602 -
080603 - Received ref DRT 1 0001 from Jim responding to the letter on 020521,
080604 - ref DIP 1 0001 which provided phone numbers for a telecon requested by
080605 - Jim to aid planning at Meeting Maker for improving their schedule
080606 - program. ref DRP 1 0001
080607 - ..
080608 - Jim says sorry about the delay in responding.  He is buried in
080609 - work and expects to get his head above water soon, and will follow up
080610 - with discussions he requested on 020521.
080611 -
080612 - Submitted ref DIT 1 0001 thanking Jim for an interim response and
080613 - noting...
080614 -
080615 -    1.  Everybody is buried these days on the Information Highway
080616 -        because there is not enough time to think, as reported on
080617 -        970910. ref SDS 7 3479 Information overload makes it hard to
080618 -        keep our head above water, ref DIT 1 O66J, noted on 920210.
080619 -        ref SDS 2 8400
080620 -
080621 -    2.  On 010911 the CIA, FBI, NSA, etc., could not develop
080622 -        intelligence fast enough, ref DIT 1 JB7L, to keep their head
080623 -        above water using technologies and methods they like.
080624 -        ref SDS 11 UP5K
080625 -        ..
080626 -    3.  Reuters reported this year on on February 4 that the same
080627 -        problem has investors worried about productivity and earnings,
080628 -        ref DIT 1 RB8I, because too many people are having too many
080629 -        problems at places like Microsoft, Intel, IBM, Aerospace company, Enron,
080630 -        etc. ref SDS 14 0001
080631 -        ..
080632 -    4.  Clearly, the problem is not shortage of work ethic.
080633 -        Everybody is working harder than ever, putting in extra time on
080634 -        weekends, shown by your letter today. ref DIT 1 F69G
080635 -        Ultimately, only better tools that make it faster and easier to
080636 -        work intelligently can solve the problem of information
080637 -        overload that worries investors about productivity and
080638 -        earnings, as explained in POIMS. ref OF 1 1101  But, who has
080639 -        the time to figure out how to work smarter rather than harder?
080640 -
080641 -    5.  The challenge of finding time to save time has stumped people
080642 -        for a long time. ref DIT 1 3S9M  When everybody is busy bailing
080643 -        water to put out fires, there is never a good time for the team
080644 -        to focus on improvement, an example is the record on 951228 at
080645 -        a prominent IT firm that was later sold to Intel when favorable
080646 -        market conditions declined. ref SDS 4 1005
080647 -        ..
080648 -    6.  That's why Jim's letter on 020521 caught my attention,
080649 -        showing promise of breaking out of the innovation loop that
080650 -        traps so many these days. ref DIT 1 OW4L  This leads to the
080651 -        feeling that innovative advance can only occur when the brass
080652 -        assign someone to go do it "off-page" somewhere, while
080653 -        everybody else continues the march as usual.
080654 -        ..
080655 -    7.  The Manhatten project is an example, where, during World
080656 -        War II, General Groves, so the lore goes, was given carte
080657 -        blanche to get things done. ref DIT 1 V65I  So, too, Lockheed
080658 -        is credited for its "Skunk Works" that enabled innovation to
080659 -        flourish through channels independent from the machinery of
080660 -        daily management, cited by Gary on 011006. ref SDS 12
080661 -        CQ4J
080662 -
080663 -    8.  In any case, I appreciate your willingness to keep touch.
080664 -        Please let me know if there is anything I can do to facilitate
080665 -        progress on this initiative.
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080678 -