THE WELCH COMPANY
440 Davis Court #1602
San Francisco, CA 94111-2496
415 781 5700
rodwelch@pacbell.net


S U M M A R Y


DIARY: March 17, 1994 09:30 AM Thursday; Rod Welch

Meeting with Fred at ICS to demonstrate SDS.

1...Summary/Objective
2...Operating System for People and Organizations
3...Learning Effort is Marketing Challenge
4...Building the Job with Conversation
......Ignorance, Fear, Denial
......Automated Integration - Management Complexity
......Improving Writing as a Knowledge Tool
5...Expedition
6...He feels Expedition is the closest competition to SDS.
.......SDS Advantages
7...Citations
8...Pricing Policy
9...ICS Marketing Strategy - Gift of Time Power of Knowledge
10...Alphabet is Hard Sell, Vendors Looking for "Easy Diggings"
11...Cost/Benefit of Knowledge Tools is Hard to Grasp
.....Seminars
12...Welch Proposal
......Customer Profiles
13...Referrals


..............
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CONTACTS 
0201 - ICS Corporation                                                                                                                                                    O-00000144 0102
020101 - Mr. Fred Talegani; President

SUBJECTS
SDS Marketing, Sales, Customer Contact
Franchising/licensing
PM Automated Support, CPM
Construction (DPB)
Marketing Proposal, ICS
User Interface, Menus, Mouse, Speech

1108 -
1108 -    ..
1109 - Summary/Objective
1110 -
111001 - Follow up ref SDS 15 0000.
111002 -
111003 - Demonstrated SDS. Fred made suggestions on pricing and other marketing
111004 - issues. Considered opportunities for marketing support by ICS.  Fred
111005 - called an ICS customer to request a review of SDS. Based on success
111006 - with this referral, Fred will give further consideration to marketing
111007 - SDS.
111008 -
111009 -
111010 -
111012 -  ..
1111 -
1112 -
1113 - Discussion
1114 -   ..
111401 - Fred liked SDS functionality, especially linking.  We did not
111402 - discuss the SDS scope statement set out in POIMS. ref OF 2 2688, but
111403 - his questions today indicated that Fred grasped the idea of capturing
111404 - organizational memory in order to improve understanding of daily work,
111405 - and creating a connected web of intelligence to align the work with
111406 - objectives, requirements and commitments, also explained in POIMS.
111407 - ref OF 2 2300
111409 -  ..
111410 - Fred said it is very easy for people to get confused about who said
111411 - what to whom, and when things are supposed to be done, how and by
111412 - whom, when people are busy all day in meetings and taking calls.  He
111413 - said the problem is that people don't know they are mistaken because
111414 - they don't have a fast, easy way to check their memory.  This leads to
111415 - mistake, conflict and a lot of stress on the job with people arguing
111416 - endlessly.  Fred feels SDS looks like a good solution to a big
111417 - problem.
111418 -      ..
111419 -      I demonstrated the benefits of linked records in accessing
111420 -      prior events related to our discussion.  At the end of the
111421 -      meeting I showed show citations are created automatically to
111422 -      avoid mistakes of manual data entry.
111424 -       ..
111425 -      The only thing the User enters with the keyboard are thoughts and
111426 -      explanations, like in this record to capture organizational
111427 -      memory.
111428 -
111429 -
111431 -  ..
111432 - Operating System for People and Organizations
111433 -
111434 - Fred recognized the vision of SDS as a control medium for all
111435 - management systems.
111436 -
111437 - He sees SDS as a "blanket" under which other systems are managed.
111438 -
111439 -     An important component of this vision is a single source data
111440 -     entry to feed all control systems.
111441 -
111442 -         [On 950927 meeting at Intel reviewed same concept. ref SDS 20
111443 -         8226
111444 -     ..
111445 -     SDS supports this idea through the control field where time
111446 -     and cost can be reported, along with the explanations of why
111447 -     things occurred.  The other systems crunch the numbers, and SDS
111448 -     tells the story.  This insures greater accuracy in reporting
111449 -     because the organization gets something it needs as a by product
111450 -     of managers doing something they want.
111451 -
111452 -
111454 -  ..
111455 - Learning Effort is Marketing Challenge
111456 -
111457 - Fred said it is difficult to introduce "writing" tools, like SDS, that
111458 - do not support data entry functions of popular wordprocessing pro-
111459 - grams.  He cited history at ICS beginning years ago with Wordstar,
111460 - changing to Wordperfect, and recently changing again to Word.  ICS
111461 - staff resist further change because the learning time is burdensome.
111462 -
111463 -
111464 -
111465 -
1115 -

SUBJECTS
Reading and Writing, Not Enough Time
Conflict with Existing Methods
Time - Too Busy Being Busy
Writing "everything" down
Ignorance, Fear, Denial
Talking Seems Fast and Easy Knowledge,
Talking & Listening is Fast and Easy
Disallusioned by Technology

1910 -
191101 -  ..
191102 - Building the Job with Conversation
191103 -
191104 - Fred said that writing has to be fast and easy to compete with
191105 - conversation because that is the way managers like to work.
191107 -  ..
191108 - He said executives at ICS customers don't write that much.  They do
191109 - not consider "writing" as "management support" because they are not
191110 - aware that language has multiple meanings based on context, and the
191111 - experience of paticipants in meetings, as reported on 940111,
191112 - ref SDS 11 2074  He said said that executives are not aware that
191113 - language can be organized like a CPM or cost report to show the status
191114 - of performance.  This lack of experience blinds them to the advantages
191115 - of SDS that are hidden in plain sight to improve accuracy and avoid
191116 - mistakes.
191118 -       ..
191119 -      [On 960620 developed "Knowledge Space" to help people grasp that
191120 -      management details can organized like construction details, so
191121 -      that it is faster and easier to discover understanding using SDS
191122 -      than by conversation. ref SDS 21 3516]
191123 - ..
191124 - ICS customers want writing tools with functions they already
191125 - know how to use.  Since they have no experience that SDS functions
191126 - improve earnings and save time, they assume SDS has the same effect as
191127 - conventional wordprocessing tools, but uses different ways of doing
191128 - it.  They do not want to learn mutliple ways to do the same thing.
191130 -  ..
191131 - He said that if executives believed the different functions saves time
191132 - and money, then they would make the effort to learn SDS, because
191133 - executives like to save time and money.  But they do not have any way
191134 - of discovering that without making the effort to learn it, and there
191135 - is not enough credible evidence to overcome igorance.  Fred said that
191136 - getting the initial credible evidence for better methods is hard.
191137 -
191139 -       ..
191140 -      Ignorance, Fear, Denial
191141 -
191142 -      The ICS experience reflects wider trends 10 years into the high
191143 -      tech wave rippling through the market place.  Initial euphoria
191144 -      about rosy prospects of "automated" management, has given way to
191145 -      skepticism, frustration, and anger over failed expectations.
191147 -       ..
191148 -      Fred's experience is evident at SMP, as reported on 930831 in the
191149 -      record at ref SDS 9 8849, also ref SDS 9 5829, and at KHLS on
191150 -      931102. ref SDS 10 4002  Marketing hype has collided with the
191151 -      reality that despite a trillion dollars invested in technology
191152 -      since 1981, management productivity has declined according to Jim
191153 -      Manzi, CEO of Lotus Development Corp, as reported in the record
191154 -      on 921014. ref SDS 7 0000.
191155 -
191156 -
191157 -
191158 -
1912 -

SUBJECTS
Difficult to Understand
Automated Integration of Management Tasks
Management is Complex
Difficult to Explain SDS/POIMS
Explaining SDS, POIMS
Organize Complexity of Life/Management
Fools Gold, Talking and Pictures, Fools
WBS Subject Index Methodology

2810 -
281101 -       ..
281102 -      Automated Integration - Management Complexity
281103 -
281104 -      This occurred because "management," like life, is complex,
281105 -      so automation must be accompanied by integration of key business
281106 -      practices in order to make a difference, and this is very, very
281107 -      difficult.
281109 -       ..
281110 -      It requires a tool that is more complex than people are used to
281111 -      consciously dealing with, in order to harness the complexity of
281112 -      management.  Humans innately summarize complexity, which is the
281113 -      source of errors that cause failure.  Automation cannot make
281114 -      management less complex.  Those who claim otherwise are selling
281115 -      "fools gold," and those who purchase simplicity, will be ill
281116 -      equipped to navigate the "Information Highway," ref SDS 18 line
281117 -      102.
281118 -      ..
281119 -      Automation, when properly applied, can empower managers to
281120 -      work faster and more accurately, i.e. smarter rather than harder.
281122 -       ..
281123 -      The SDS Subject Index uses WBS methods to build and apply an
281124 -      organic structure to manage the complexity of information that
281125 -      occurs in life, reported on 920211. ref SDS 4 8649
281127 -       ..
281128 -      Since projects are part of life, project subjects are managed by
281129 -      SDS.
281130 -
281131 -            [See also ref SDS 19 line 352.]
281132 -
281133 -
281134 -
2812 -

SUBJECTS
Pictures Not Text, Writing
Thinking Through Writing
Disallusioned by Technology
Cultural Resistance
Critical Mass of Management Practices Must
Automated Integration of Management Tasks

3708 -
370901 -       ..
370902 -      Improving Writing as a Knowledge Tool
370903 -
370904 -      In the same way that pencils, and paper did not improve the abil-
370905 -      ity to think, remember and communicate until the alphabet, spel-
370906 -      ling and grammar evolved to leverage the power of the human mind,
370907 -      so too, software must blend a "critical mass" of mental faculties
370908 -      in order to improve management.  Absent the right software, com-
370909 -      puter hardware is only inert metal and plastic.  Since it took
370910 -      several thousand years to make writing with pen and paper a via-
370911 -      ble knowledge tool, it should not be unexpected that once a bet-
370912 -      ter medium became available in the form of a personal computer,
370913 -      it likewise took a few years of experimentation to fashion an
370914 -      expanded set of conventions for creating and using knowledge with
370915 -      the new medium.  The result is SDS.
370916 -      ..
370917 -      ICS staff and others are reluctant to invest time in
370918 -      something like SDS, because 10 years after the promises of
370919 -      automation, their efforts to learn new software have not been
370920 -      rewarded with improved management and income.  The anguish of
370921 -      dashed hopes builds a wall of resistance to claims of better
370922 -      solutions (see comments at Seattle PMI symposium, ref SDS 1 line
370923 -      242).
370925 -       ..
370926 -      This resistance is understandable in human terms, yet, management
370927 -      must still seek the best answer and fashion a plan to implement
370928 -      it.  That past efforts did not fulfill expectations, warrants
370929 -      greater scrutiny, rather than ignoring better solutions.  Word-
370930 -      processing in particular is a unidimensional medium that adds to
370931 -      the burdens of management, ref OF 1 line 72.  SDS uniquely
370932 -      improves the management process.
370933 -
370934 -
370935 -
3710 -

SUBJECTS
Expedition, Primavera

3803 -
380401 -  ..
380402 - Expedition
380403 -
380404 - Fred said Expedition is selling more briskly because Users can now
380405 - select Wordperfect, Word or other popular wordprocessing conventions,
380406 - to perform data entry.  This is the only major improvement within the
380407 - past few years.  I mentioned my review of Expedition relative to SDS
380408 - at ref SDS 3 line 32.  SDS would give ICS a more useful product for
380409 - its customers, which Nahal indicated is needed, per ref SDS 13 line
380410 - 60.
380411 -
380412 -      [On 960627 Turner is using Expedition. ref SDS 22 5952.]
380414 -  ..
380415 - Fred noted that SDS clearly has functions that do not exist in other
380416 - programs.  The marketing challenge is demonstrating this functionality
380417 - is worth undergoing a new learning curve. (See "cost/benefit" analysis
380418 - at ref SDS 10 line 113)
380420 -  ..
380422 -  ..
380423 - He feels Expedition is the closest competition to SDS.
380424 -
380425 - There are many excellent "PIM" programs, e.g. Packrat, Lotus
380426 - Organizer.  Lotus Notes and Commence are good "Workgroups" products.
380427 - But only SDS implements POIMS technology, giving it...
380428 -
380429 -
380430 -
380431 -
3805 -

SUBJECTS
Expedition, Primavera
SDS Advantages
SDS Features

4005 -
400601 -        ..
400602 -       SDS Advantages
400603 -
400604 -        1.  Links between scheduled tasks and diary precedents.
400605 -        2.  Citations to prior events and external sources.
400606 -        3.  Instant Diary access by multiple selection criteria.
400607 -        4.  Multiple subjects and record segments for diary events.
400608 -        5.  Unlimited record length.
400609 -        6.  Automated MBO with flexible subject indexing.
400610 -        7.  Documents linked to diary context.
400611 -        8.  Controlled visibility into wider windows of detail.
400612 -        9.  Automatic follow up
400613 -       10.  Instant professionally formatted printed reports.
400614 -
400615 -
4007 -

SUBJECTS
Expedition, Primavera
Traceability to Original Sources

4204 -
420501 -  ..
420502 - Citations
420503 -
420504 - Fred seemed favorably impressed with SDS citations.  He suggested
420505 - concentrating on getting users to apply them, so we develop a base of
420506 - experience on User needs, and have some people who can endorse this
420507 - feature to prospective customers.
420508 -
420509 -
4206 -

SUBJECTS
Pricing policy

4303 -
430401 -  ..
430402 - Pricing Policy
430403 -
430404 - He feels the price of $80 for single user program is too low to
430405 - attract people looking for the power SDS has.  It gives an impression
430406 - of low value.
430407 -
430408 -      I explained the idea of pricing tailored to different market
430409 -      segments, and to attract endorsements of product capability, see
430410 -      for example ref SDS 6 line 44, and on a demonstration version
430411 -      permitting 2 - 4 months use, at ref SDS 8 line 61.
430412 -
430413 -          Jim Ellis recommended we set the price at below $100 in order
430414 -          to make sales, per ref SDS 5 line 155.
430415 -      ..
430416 -      Fred feels new products should be soled first to the
430417 -      "cream" of the market at a higher price, then adjusted as
430418 -      competition arises.
430420 -  ..
430421 - This issue requires further consideration.  The small brochure does
430422 - not include pricing, in order to permit flexibility on this point, ref
430423 - SDS 2 line 190.
430424 -
430425 -
430426 -
430427 -
4305 -

SUBJECTS
SDS Marketing Strategies
Cost/Benefit of Better Communications
Learning/Education
Credibility - No Faith
Disallusioned by Technology
Difficult to Explain, Too Complex
Cost/Benefit, Fear, Faith
Culture Shock, Communication Metrics
Looking for Easy Diggings
Fools Gold Executives want Pictures which
Easy Diggings, Looking for Fast Easy Earnings
Gift of Time Power Knowledge SDS Integrates Time and Information to C
Good Enough Get By Feel Good Management Empowerment Cursory Impulsive
Learning Takes More than 20 Min Improve Skills Productivity Earnings

5816 -
581701 -  ..
581702 - ICS Marketing Strategy - Gift of Time Power of Knowledge
581703 -
581704 - Fred explained his sales force is comprised of nine representatives
581705 - who specialize in different products, e.g. CAD, Estimating, Schedul-
581706 - ing, and various sub-elements of these systems.  Each product requires
581707 - significant effort to learn how to train and support ICS customers.
581708 -
581709 -     I explained SDS offers a new area for ICS to sell training and
581710 -     support services that is of much greater value than these tools,
581711 -     because it offers the gift of time and the power of knowledge.
581712 -
581714 -  ..
581715 - Alphabet is Hard Sell, Vendors Looking for "Easy Diggings"
581716 - Cost/Benefit of Knowledge Tools is Hard to Grasp
581717 -
581718 - Fred feels that if he showed his sales force SDS, they would resist
581719 - selling it because it is complex, and so would be difficult to
581720 - explain, teach, and support, and it would be hard for customers to
581721 - learn.  He feels SDS is like the alphabet.  It may be very valuable,
581722 - but unless people are forced to learn it, they prefer to use skills
581723 - they already have, and hope these are good enough.
581724 -
581725 -     [On 961113 Contractor looking for easy diggings. ref SDS 23 5838
581727 -      ..
581728 -     [On 010725 case study on Broadwater Dam reports people feel
581729 -     existing skills good enough to get by. ref SDS 24 J18I
581730 -
581731 - ..
581732 - He said ICS staff like to sell support time, and asked if we
581733 - could demonstrate with endorsements that SDS would make a significant
581734 - improvement in managing projects?
581735 -
581736 -     I will submit endorsements of a few Users on this point.
581737 -
581738 -     I explained that SDS "Contacts", "Function" and "Subject" indexes
581739 -     define cost control and objectives for implementing MBO practices.
581740 -     These offer relatively easy to perform SDS support tasks that are
581741 -     highly beneficial to the customer, similar to crafting a CPM that
581742 -     shows the components that must be accomplished to perform the
581743 -     project.
581744 -
581746 -      ..
581747 -     Seminars
581748 -
581749 -     Nahal mentioned in our discussion on March 8th, that ICS sponsors
581750 -     seminars where SDS could be explained, ref SDS 13 line 72.  These
581751 -     would provide a captive audience looking for answers, where POIMS
581752 -     theory can be presented, and SDS offered to apply it.
581754 -      ..
581755 -     For TQM, MBO aficionados, and others interested in concepts of
581756 -     investing intellectual capital, a new paradigm in time management
581757 -     and the power of automated integration, SDS & POIMS offer a lot to
581758 -     think about.
581759 -
581760 -
581762 -  ..
581763 - Welch Proposal
581764 -
581765 - I suggested that in the same way ICS has developed sales and support
581766 - expertise for its existing products, Welch will assist ICS in adding
581767 - SDS to the ICS product line.  This will not require ICS staff to learn
581768 - SDS. It would ultimately result though in ICS offering a combination
581769 - of product, training and management expertise to its customers.
581771 -  ..
581772 - The best way to sell SDS is to attend a few meetings for a prospective
581773 - customer, and prepare notes that are segmented according to subject.
581774 - When the customer sees this new level of information is readily avail-
581775 - able to solve problems, this shows the value of SDS.  Experiencing
581776 - greater control of the job by controlling the record, leads to demand
581777 - for SDS and support for using it.
581778 - ..
581779 - Project managers do not realize the importance of much that
581780 - occurs in the daily fray of business life, because they don't have
581781 - time to recognize inherent connections to their goals.  But they do
581782 - recognize it when assembled in relation to contract requirements,
581783 - correspond- ence, prior understandings, cost and schedule objectives.
581784 - It takes two things to create this: SDS and expertise to capture the
581785 - record. Welch proposes to work through ICS to install and support SDS
581786 - in order to develop this market.
581788 -  ..
581789 - To do this, Welch needs access to people who are managing projects.
581791 -  ..
581792 - This can be facilitated by credible referrals which ICS can supply.
581794 -  ..
581795 - Fred offered to evaluate the SDS market potential by initially aiming
581796 - for 5 placements of SDS.  ICS will provide referrals from its customer
581797 - base who seem most amenable to SDS capability.  Welch will present
581798 - SDS, and either sell it or give it to customers for evaluation, so we
581799 - can get market response.  If SDS is favorably received, Welch and ICS
581800 - will work out a marketing relationship.
581801 -
581803 -       ..
581804 -      Customer Profiles
581805 -
581806 -      Fred has a number of ICS customers whose business practices are
581807 -      highly automated, and so might be amenable to trying SDS.
581808 -
581809 -      Another class of customers would be contractors, design profes-
581810 -      sionals, owners, lawyers, and consultants involved in projects
581811 -      with serious problems.  Some of these folks are open to new
581812 -      solutions, if expertise comes to solve their problem and train
581813 -      them in using SDS.  Most major projects meet this test.
581814 -
581815 -
581817 -  ..
581818 - Referrals
581819 -
581820 - Fred gave me a warm referral to a general contractor:
581821 -
581822 -                  John Stouffer
581823 -                  415 753 0567
581824 -
581825 -   ...while I was there he called and advised John about SDS, that I
581826 -   will call to schedule a demonstration.  Fred said he wanted John's
581827 -   opinion about the viability of SDS to support contract management.
581829 -    ..
581830 -   Fred said John was recently won a $600K judgement against an owner
581831 -   who failed to pay for work performed by John's firm.
581832 -
581833 -
581834 -
581835 -
581836 -
581837 -
581838 -
581839 -
581840 -
581841 -
581842 -
581843 -
581844 -
5819 -
Distribution. . . . See "CONTACTS"