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SUBJECTS
SDS Marketing, Sales, Resistance to Sales, "Feel Good Management"
Welch Management Method, Psychologically Demanding, Truth
Feel Good Management, Overcome by
Bad Management Attractive Ignorance Laziness Fools Gold Attractive Fa

1206 -    ..
1207 - Summary/Objective
1208 -
120801 - The recent discussion with Lucille yielded some helpful material to
120802 - analyse this topic.
120803 -
120804 -
1209 -
1210 -
1211 - Analysis
1212 -
121201 - This concept seems to have originally come into the system from
121202 - discussions with Morris on 911123. ref SDS 2 1331
121203 -
121204 - The following comment arises from the discussion on the Welch
121205 - Management method at ref SDS 6 line 105, which was first characterized
121206 - at ref SDS 4 line 154.
121207 -
121208 -        ..
121209 -       Planning to Succeed v. Expediting Today
121210 -
121211 -       A simple example is the argument that arises over preparing a
121212 -       CPM prior to commencing work, and submitting interim updates.
121213 -       This is a typical requirement in major projects.  Contractors
121214 -       resist this for a lot of reasons that are too esoteric to set
121215 -       out here.  The owner's rep recommends the Contractor be held to
121216 -       perform this requirement and even be paid extra to do it, under
121217 -       similarly esoteric reasoning, ref SDS 1 4896. The contractor
121218 -       either refuses or submits a plan that is too general to permit
121219 -       effective management.
121220 -
121221 -
121222 -       Delayed Benefits Overwhelmed by Immediate Actions
121223 -
121224 -       The owner feels torn between following professional advice that
121225 -       delays immediate progress in order to accomplish benefits that
121226 -       cannot be measured for weeks, months or years hence.  Even
121227 -       owners experienced in contracts are often moved to accept the
121228 -       contractor's offer of immediate tangible results, and hope that
121229 -       the end will take care of itself by "working out" future
121230 -       problems as they arise through good interpersonal skills.
121231 -
121232 -        ..
121233 -       Feel Good Management Overwhelming Tendency for Bad Management
121234 -
121235 -       The owner feels good that a stressful conflict has ended and
121236 -       work is proceeding, per analysis on 911123. ref SDS 2 1331.
121237 -
121238 -       The contractor feels good about having avoided a crisis by
121239 -       settling inflated claims for twice the actual value, so that
121240 -       these resources can be used to "buy" another job.
121241 -
121242 -       The Engineer and Project Manager feel good about avoiding
121243 -       responsibility for applying contract notice provisions that
121244 -       cause ill will among contractors who will bid and perform future
121245 -       work.
121246 -
121247 -       All sides feel good that their interpersonal skills and sound
121248 -       judgement prevented "paper work" from getting the job done.
121249 -
121250 -       Sometimes "feel good" management is successful. When it is not,
121251 -       as in the case of 1986 explosion of the Space Shuttle,
121252 -       Challenger, reported on 921021, ref SDS 3 4499, everyone at
121253 -       least feels good that they tried their best to "expedite" the
121254 -       work and be "fair," but the other "guy" was unreasonable,
121255 -       incompetent and did not tell the truth.
121256 -
121257 -       The attractiveness of "feel good" management permeates all human
121258 -       activity, and is the major source of failure, i.e. the drive to
121259 -       avoid the stress of conflict and confronting error, in
121260 -       combination with a desire for self-worth, i.e., ego.
121261 -
121262 -           [On 950909 discussed this with Morris at ref SDS 8 4480.]
121263 -
121264 -           [On 940611 $500M ship sinks under feel good management.
121265 -           ref SDS 5 8239
121266 -
121267 -           [On 940820 discussion of PG&E technical support people, see
121268 -           ref SDS 6 7404.
121269 -
121270 -           [On 941211 PG&E managers do not agree on organizational
121271 -           memory. ref SDS 7 0001
121272 -
121273 -           [On 960510 example managers who do not agree on meeting
121274 -           notes, ref SDS 9 2943.]
121275 -
121276 -           [On 961105 USACE used feel good management. ref SDS 10 6121]
121277 -
121278 - Another analogy is that of the $.10 error in a balancing the books.
121279 - Many would argue against finding the error, but experienced
121280 - accountants generally believe it is good practice to do so.
121281 -
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121284 -
121285 -
121286 -
121287 -
121288 -