CONTACTS 

SUBJECTS
SDS, Marketing, Applications & Perceived Value
Communications
Meeting Notes, confirm understandings
SDS & POIMS specification/Graphics
Management productivity & Teamwork
Information Management
Shared Meaning Meeting Notes Linked to Common History
Meaning Changes Drifts in Circles without Metrics to Maintain Alignme
Telephone Game Shows Meaning Drift, Need to Maintain Shared

1111 -    ..
1112 - Summary/Objective
1113 -
111301 - Today I modifed ref OF 2 line 319 per analysis at ref SDS 10 line 367.
111302 - I eliminated the text that explained getting printed reports takes a
111303 - lot less time, so the overall document would not increase in size.
111304 - This is not terribly fatal because the entire document indicates SDS
111305 - saves time.
111306 -
111307 -      Changed ref OF 2 line 39 by adding "effective communications" and
111308 -      putting the types of communications in parantheses.
111309 -
111310 -      Changed item 8 on journalism at ref OF 2 line 90, from "narra-
111311 -      tive" to "written communications" for the same reason.
111312 -
111313 -
111314 - This creates a bridge between SDS & POIMS jargon and conventional
111315 - management practice, which seems to identify "communications" with the
111316 - POIMS notion of "converting information into knowledge," ref OF 2 line
111317 - 48.  It seems to me that...
111318 -
111319 -                         communications
111320 -
111321 -     ...is too limited for the reasons at ref SDS 10 line 340.  Most
111322 -     people view "communications" as merely discussion, and equate
111323 -     improvement as better pursuasivness and listening.  Drucker does a
111324 -     good job of explaining why those objectives are largely unattain-
111325 -     able as the amount of information increases, ref OF 5 line 41, but
111326 -     he offers no solutions, ref OF 5 line 545.
111327 -
111328 -     Support for this change is at ref SDS 13 line 61 [later this
111329 -     evolved into a practice of "communication metrics" ref SDS 14
111330 -     line 168].
111331 -
111332 -
111333 - Actually, I modified this entire page quite a bit in order to apply
111334 - the themes developed from recent research and analysis, and to make
111335 - everything fit on the same page.
111336 -
111337 - Modified the explanation of "Limits of Technology" on page 2, ref OF
111338 - 2 line 102 to incorporate the idea that attending more meetings does
111339 - not improve "communications."
111340 -
111341 -
111342 -
111343 -
111344 -
1114 -
1115 -
1116 - Communications
1117 -
111701 - Reviewed another article on "communications" ref OF 7 line 11.  It is
111702 - part of a series of articles apparently sponsored by Dan Ono, present-
111703 - ed by AT&T staff in the August issue of PMnetwork.  The other articles
111704 - were reviewed at ref SDS 11 line 070801.
111705 -
111706 -
111707 -     Too Much Information Harms Communication
111708 -
111709 -     This theme of POIMS set out at ref OF 2 line 101 and expanded in
111710 -     the Van Kasper Review analysis at ref SDS 5 line 188, is
111711 -     supported in part by the author at ref OF 7 line 53, noting that:
111712 -
111713 -          Typically, the weakest part of any information network
111714 -          appears when the human beings themselves begin passing
111715 -          information to each other.
111716 -
111717 -      ..
111718 -     Telephone Game
111719 -     Conversation Causes Mis-communication
111720 -
111721 -     The author cites the "telephone game" to illustrate problems of
111722 -     relying on verbal communications. ref OF 7 0783
111723 -
111724 -         This problem was explained at a Cal Tech PM seminar reviewed
111725 -         on 911021, ref SDS 3 7486, using an example from work with
111726 -         DNRC concerning the Engineer's report on 920124 for replacing
111727 -         the speed increaser at Broadwater Dam. ref SDS 2 4476
111728 -
111729 -         [On 940111 Cal Tech publication explains meaning changes over
111730 -         time. ref SDS 12 2074]
111731 -
111732 -         [On 960518 "meaning drift" explains problem. ref SDS 15 3734]
111733 -
111734 -         [On 971229 management film cites telephone game to illustrate
111735 -         how meaning changes. ref SDS 16 1526]
111736 -
111737 -
111738 -     Solutions
111739 -
111740 -     Author recommends at ref OF 7 line 81:
111741 -
111742 -        1.  Understanding and coping with diversity of communication
111743 -            methodologies during the very beginning stages of a project
111744 -            is key to successful, on-time completion.
111745 -
111746 -        2.  What data will be required and generated?
111747 -
111748 -        3.  Who will generate the data and what tools will be
111749 -            necessary?
111750 -
111751 -        4.  How will data be passed to project team members who depend
111752 -            on it so that the information does not become distorted as
111753 -            in the "Telephone" game?
111754 -
111755 -
111756 -     Author calls for "...implementing effective communications
111757 -     methodologies from the outset of a project instead of waiting
111758 -     until the critical path has already been affected.", ref OF 7
111759 -     line 93.  SDS significantly improves upon this methodology with
111760 -     the POIMS concept of "communication metrics" [later explained at
111761 -     ref SDS 14 line 204].
111762 -
111763 -
111764 -
1118 -