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: February 2, 1995 09:30 AM Thursday;
Rod Welch
Attend UC Extension video conference on Project Management, Kerzner.
1...Summary/Objective
2...Adding "Metrics" to Business Processes Improves Communication
3...Three Legs Needed for Effective Organizational Support
4..."Integrated" Cost/Schedule Metrics Essential
5...Communication Most Important Ingredient of Good Management
.....Information Highway Reduces Productivity
....Engineers
....Reengineering communication methodology is the only way to fulfill
6...Integration Triangulates Management of Cost Schedule Communication
7...Communication Metrics New Management Science Automated Integration
......Metrics Essential to Improve Business Processes
......Communication Metrics Proactive Discovering, Fixing Problems
......Avoid "Murphy's Law" of Continual Bumbling on Information Highway
8...Faster, Better Cheaper
9...Diary of Lessons Learned Aerospace company Example of Good Management
10...Executive Sponsorship Critical to Effective Project Management
11...Chris Snyder attended this event. I thanked him for Bill DeHart's
12...Met Nino Borsoni, with Eichleay Engineers. Turns out he is working
..............
Click here to comment!
CONTACTS
0201 - PG&E Proj Mngmnt Transm Sys O-00000329 0202
020101 - Mr. Christopher A. Snyder,P.E., PMP
020102 - Director, Project Management, Room 1161B-V11C
0202 - Eichleay Eng. of Calif. O-00000611 0201
020201 - Mr. Nino Borsoni, PMP, Manager
SUBJECTS
Kerzner PM Video Conference, 950202
POIMS definition, 930408
Automated Integration applying SDS/POIMS
Communications, Murphy's Law, avoiding mistakes
Communication Metrics
Proactive Management Discovers Problems
Integrate Cost Schedule Communication
Control Communication Like Cost Schedule
1710 -
1710 - ..
1711 - Summary/Objective
1712 -
171201 - Follow up ref SDS 25 0000 and ref SDS 24 0000.
171202 -
171203 - The lecture today by an industry expert and author, Harold Kerzner,
171204 - lends support for using SDS to implement "Communication Metrics" based
171205 - on the theory of automated integration in POIMS technology, ref OF 1
171206 - 6528.
171207 -
171208 - [On 950203 discussed with Jeff. ref SDS 29 XL6J
171210 - ..
171211 - [On 950204 discussed with Morris. ref SDS 30 5932]
171212 -
171213 -
171214 -
171216 - ..
1713 -
1714 -
1715 - Discussion
1716 -
171601 - Attended a video broadcast lecture at the Cheveron Learning Center in
171602 - San Ramone. This event is sponsored jointly by PMI and the project
171603 - management program at UC Berkeley. Harold Kerzner, Ph.D. delivered
171604 - the lecture based on his book...
171606 - ..
171607 - The Kerzner Approach to
171608 - Project Management
171609 - Excellence
171610 -
171612 - ..
171613 - Adding "Metrics" to Business Processes Improves Communication
171614 -
171615 - Kerzner presented popular ideas on TQM, reengineering, etc., similar
171616 - to the Cal Tech seminar on 921021, ref SDS 7 6849, aimed at improving
171617 - management of internal projects rather than external hard money
171618 - projects in competitive bidding. ref SDS 7 5696 Recent efforts in
171619 - "partnering" that use TQM on public works projects (see ASPE seminar
171620 - ref SDS 26 5689), give Kerzner's ideas wider appeal, i.e., to internal
171621 - and external projects.
171623 - ..
171624 - Dr. Kerzner stressed the importance of integrating cost and schedule
171625 - control as a comprehensive system of business metrics, which supports
171626 - C/SCSC in military procurement. ref SDS 0 5093
171628 - ..
171629 - Today's seminar shows there remains unawareness in the market and
171630 - among academics, experts, etc., about applying business metrics to
171631 - daily communications. ref SDS 0 8933 Trends toward more and faster
171632 - information (i.e., the "Information Highway" - ref SDS 12 2526) will
171633 - continue to reduce management productivity, ref SDS 12 4757, and
171634 - thereby build demand for tools like SDS that "convert information into
171635 - knowledge," under the "emphatic design" principals described in the
171636 - article reviewed on 940508. ref SDS 16 6930.
171637 -
171639 - ..
171640 - Three Legs Needed for Effective Organizational Support
171641 -
171642 - Kerzner began by citing an example of trying to sit on a two and then
171643 - a one legged stool, to illustrate the need for projects to have a
171644 - Project Manager, Line Manager support and Executive sponsorship. All
171645 - three are needed to ensure success, and a mature project management.
171646 -
171647 - [Need for adequate PM support is at ref SDS 37 8965.]
171648 -
171650 - ..
171651 - "Integrated" Cost/Schedule Metrics Essential
171652 - --------------------------------------------
171653 - Kerzner strongly advocated the need for "automated integration" to
171654 - apply earned value concepts (central to Cost/Schedule Control System
171655 - Criteria -- C/SCSC -- tools developed in military procurement circles,
171656 - reviewed on 940505. ref SDS 17 6750).
171657 -
171658 - See for example page 34 of the presentation manual under
171659 - "Maturity;" and on page 39 under "Critical Success Factors."
171661 - ..
171662 - Kerzner's point 5 on page 45, urges that "cost and schedule
171663 - management are inseparable."
171665 - ..
171666 - Kerzner does not offer guidance on solving the conflict between
171667 - competition and cooperation that impedes use of earned value on
171668 - publicly bid projects, per analysis at.
171670 - ..
171671 - Kerzner said that "immature" PM organizations have cost managers at
171672 - one end of the hall, and schedule people at the other end of the hall,
171673 - or even in different buildings. Organizations "mature" in project
171674 - management, combine these tasks. He said automated tools like
171675 - Microsoft Project make it practical to accomplish this objective
171676 -
171677 - [Other examples are Primavera, Artemis. PG&E uses "Analysts" to
171678 - apply this idea, ref SDS 31 4044.]
171680 - ..
171681 - [Worked this into NWO paper at ref SDS 39 5693.]
171683 - ..
171684 - [Article in 1997 proposes Project Office for PM support, ref SDS
171685 - 45 6902.]
171687 - ..
171688 - It is not clear how Kerzner solves the inherent resistance to provide
171689 - accurate cost and schedule information arising from the conflict
171690 - between competition and cooperation, see Enterprize Workflow.
171691 -
171693 - ..
171694 - Communication Most Important Ingredient of Good Management
171695 -
171696 - Kerzner noted throughout the presentation that communication is the
171697 - most important ingredient of successful management. The seminar hand
171698 - out emphasized....
171699 -
171700 - [On 951212 study shows communications has big impact on
171701 - success. ref SDS 41 4433
171703 - ..
171704 - [On 960116 Raychem reports communication primary factor for
171705 - success of management. ref SDS 43 7684
171707 - ..
171708 - On page 19 of the seminar manual he recommends
171709 - "Multi-directional communications."
171711 - ..
171712 - On page 21 he recommends keeping line managers "well informed."
171714 - ..
171715 - Page 27 says Project Management provides "Better horizontal
171716 - communications."
171718 - ..
171719 - Cultivate effective communication, cooperation and trust to
171720 - achieve rapid project management maturity.
171722 - ..
171723 - Unlike cost and schedule, Kerzner offered no procedures, tips or clues
171724 - about how to improve communications. He said that unessential calls,
171725 - meetings, and documents should be avoided to reduce information
171726 - overload, i.e., paperwork, (see page 45 point 12), but this is no more
171727 - helpful than telling people not to incur unnecessary expense. The
171728 - issue is how to make meetings, calls, and documents productive,
171729 - reported on 940114. ref SDS 15 2290
171731 - ..
171732 - Stephen Covey proposes understanding and follow up make leadership
171733 - effective, and form essential ingredients of communication processes,
171734 - reviewed on 921205. ref SDS 9 1558
171736 - ..
171737 - Combining Covey and Kerzner suggests "Communication Metrics" processes
171738 - of leadership, understanding, and follow up should be integrated with
171739 - cost and schedule control to leverage management effectiveness. The
171740 - primary metric of communication is accuracy, as a predicate to cost
171741 - and schedule metrics.
171742 -
171743 - [On 950327 defined system of "Communication Metrics."
171744 - ref SDS 35 0001
171745 -
171747 - ..
171748 - Information Highway Reduces Productivity
171749 -
171750 - Managers use celluar and mobile phones, E-mail, pagers, fax,
171751 - "earnest listening" and more meetings (e.g., TQM, MPM) to improve
171752 - communications, i.e., "more is better." But Peter Drucker notes
171753 - that increasing information does not increase "communications,"
171754 - ref SDS 13 5567. Absent a simple, direct means to "convert
171755 - information into knowledge," more information causes more errors
171756 - (see "Information Revolution," ref SDS 12 4757, also solutions to
171757 - "Murphy's Law" at ref SDS 18 5882, also at ref SDS 34 8900, and
171758 - definition of "knowledge" at ref SDS 9 8955; see also "Plato's
171759 - Problem" at ref SDS 44 6666.
171760 -
171762 - ..
171763 - Bill DeHart honored by PMI on 950118, ref SDS 22 5838, showed at PG&E
171764 - that project management can be more successful by integrating:
171765 -
171766 - cost,
171767 - schedule
171768 - AND...
171769 - communications
171770 -
171771 - ...per above, ref SDS 0 I489; see, also, meeting on 941010 with
171772 - Chris Snyder, ref SDS 19 7777, and Bill's letter on 941230,
171773 - ref DRP 1 8444, to evaluate SDS and POIMS technology at PG&E.
171774 -
171775 - "Communication Metrics" is a new, more powerful management practice
171776 - to invest intellectual capital, defined in POIMS. ref OF 1 6528 The
171777 - need for better management was analysed at Cal Tech seminar on
171778 - 921021, ref SDS 7 4390, and previously on 890809. ref SDS 4 8812
171779 -
171781 - ..
171782 - Engineers
171783 -
171784 - Thus, today, while it is well recognized that schedule and cost
171785 - engineers improve earnings, no one has discovered the far greater
171786 - productivity gains that occur by using a "communications engineer"
171787 - to implement POIMS, ref SDS 34 8800.
171788 -
171790 - ..
171791 - Reengineering communication methodology is the only way to fulfill
171792 - the TQM promise of doing more and better management with fewer
171793 - managers, see Cal Tech seminar at ref SDS 6 7007, discussion with
171794 - Morris at ref SDS 30 5932, PG&E example ref SDS 21 8987, and Chips
171795 - example at ref SDS 33 3333.
171797 - ..
171798 - SDS is "quality control" for the management process, ref SDS 34
171799 - 8887, ref SDS 34 8444.
171800 -
171802 - ..
171803 - Integration Triangulates Management of Cost Schedule Communication
171804 - Communication Metrics New Management Science Automated Integration
171805 -
171806 - POIMS technology draws on Kerzner's idea that integrating cost and
171807 - schedule are helpful. ref SDS 0 5093 POIMS further recognizes that
171808 - since leadership, understanding, and follow up are the dominate forces
171809 - in management, per above, ref SDS 0 I48K, integrating cost, schedule
171810 - and communication, expands the power of Kerzner's idea about the power
171811 - of three (3) legs. ref SDS 0 6M7L
171812 -
171813 - [On 020607 knowledge management tries to "triangulate" growth of
171814 - methods and techniques by involving business and academia with KM
171815 - practices. ref SDS 49 WX76
171817 - ..
171818 - [On 040709 3-layer architecture defined in POIMS for people,
171819 - process, time. ref SDS 50 NG7H Another 3-layer architecture
171820 - needed for deployment that entails using existing tools without
171821 - learning anything, using organizational memory to work
171822 - intelligently, and using SDS to construct organizational memory in
171823 - Knowledge Space. ref SDS 50 8M9N
171825 - ..
171826 - POIMS applies this principal by integrating the three (3) "legs" of
171827 - daily management....
171829 - ..
171830 - +--> Plan ---------------> Perform ---+
171831 - | |
171832 - | |
171833 - | |
171834 - +-------------- Report <--------------+
171835 -
171837 - ..
171838 - ...that are supported by the SDS "intelligence" cycle, ref OF 1 6649,
171839 - which is applied throughout the enterprise for managing....
171840 -
171841 -
171842 - People Process Time
171843 -
171844 -
171845 - ...that triangulate accuracy for understanding organizational memory
171846 - and taking timely action to follow up. ref OF 1 16EF
171848 - ..
171849 - The market place has evolved well established metrics for cost and
171850 - schedule. New tools are needed for Communication Metrics to improve
171851 - accuracy of understanding by triangulating the intelligence cycle that
171852 - drives the practice of management. SDS fills this need.
171853 -
171854 - [On 950327 formalized explanation of Communication Metrics.
171855 - ref SDS 35 0001
171857 - ..
171858 - Metrics Essential to Improve Business Processes
171859 - Communication Metrics Proactive Discovering, Fixing Problems
171860 -
171861 - Cost and Schedule control emerged because people discovered it
171862 - was not enough to wait until the work is completed to find out if
171863 - the project made money and finished on time. Today, managers
171864 - know from experience and lectures like Kerzner, ref SDS 0 5093,
171865 - that it is better to invest the time and expense to measure
171866 - intermediate performance so that adjustments can be made early
171867 - enough to influence project success. Thus, cost and schedule
171868 - engineers routinely "capture the record" of actual cost and
171869 - actual progress through the course of a project.
171870 -
171871 - [On 950227 PG&E uses project analysts to support cost and
171872 - schedule control. ref SDS 31 4044]
171874 - ..
171875 - "Communication Metrics" adds value to traditional metrics for
171876 - cost and schedule by enabling proactive discovery of problems and
171877 - opportunities that are otherwise overlooked during the constant
171878 - flow of daily working information. Little deviations between
171879 - perceptions and the actual record emerge that can be fixed before
171880 - they cause mistakes that show up in cost and schedule reports, as
171881 - explained in POIMS. ref OF 1 0307, and in NWO... ref OF 2 9449
171882 - Most people recognize this problem, commonly described as the
171883 - "devil in the detail" but feel powerless to fix it, explained on
171884 - 921127. ref SDS 8 0674 Feeling powerless represents latent
171885 - demand for a solution to improve productivity and earnings, as
171886 - explained by Bill DeHart at PG&E on 941010. ref SDS 19 7777
171888 - ..
171889 - [On 950204 "metrics" for communication, ref SDS 30 5468,
171890 - fits legal practice of weighing evidence to judge accuracy
171891 - of testimony for taking appropriate action. ref SDS 30 8A4G
171893 - ..
171894 - [On 950309 managing has two parts: doing and thinking, see
171895 - ref SDS 34 8900]
171897 - ..
171898 - [On 950327 defined Communication Metrics as proactive risk
171899 - management, ref SDS 35 4828
171901 - ..
171902 - On 930929 Communication Metrics accomplishes goals for Modern
171903 - Project Management (MPM). ref SDS 11 6666
171905 - ..
171906 - [On 950812 applied these ideas to New World Order... paper
171907 - ref SDS 39 7388.]
171909 - ..
171910 - [On 951212 article on "problem handling" is major part of
171911 - managing that offers opportunity for improving earnings by
171912 - reducing rework. ref SDS 41 8473]
171914 - ..
171915 - [On 960105 USACE executive says Com Metrics needs to be
171916 - specified in order to improve contract management.
171917 - ref SDS 42 1008]
171919 - ..
171920 - [On 990818 executives prefer crisis management, rather than
171921 - make front-end investment to aovid problems. ref SDS 46
171922 - 1897]
171924 - ..
171925 - [On 990727 article supports role of communication in making
171926 - projects successful. ref SDS 47 0001]
171928 - ..
171929 - [On 990827 architect recommends specifying Communication
171930 - Metrics to improve project management. ref SDS 48 3025]
171931 -
171933 - ..
171934 - Avoid "Murphy's Law" of Continual Bumbling on Information Highway
171935 -
171936 - Seasoned executives recognize that "communications" are critical
171937 - to success (see ref SDS 30 0550 on "fragility of knowledge).
171938 - Through the ages from Aristotle, to Voltaire, to Disraeli, to
171939 - Drucker, to modern thinkers like Covey, improved communication
171940 - has been the foundation of successful "communities., ref SDS 9
171941 - 1558. So, like cost and schedule, we need a way to measure
171942 - understanding as we speed down the Information Highway, rather
171943 - than simply wait for inexplicable disaster (see Murphy's Law at
171944 - ref SDS 18 6442), due to misunderstanding. SDS enables people to
171945 - discover, shape and apply "understanding," and integrates
171946 - communications with cost and schedule, so that all three legs of
171947 - management are automated and integrated. This produces better
171948 - results.
171949 -
171950 - [See example of Primavera's problems creating its Windows
171951 - based schedule program, ref SDS 36 2355.]
171953 - ..
171954 - [Applied this relative to quote from Aristotle in NWO...
171955 - paper at ref SDS 40 8364]
171956 -
171958 - ..
171959 - Faster, Better Cheaper
171960 -
171961 - Edward Deming was reportedly bitter near the end of his life about the
171962 - lack of acceptance in the US of his TQM ideas. Never-the-less Deming
171963 - showed that merely because an idea is new, does not mean it is
171964 - untenable, ref SDS 30 0550. To make TQM a practical daily force for
171965 - better management productivity, it must address the major focus of
171966 - management:
171967 -
171969 - ..
171970 - communications
171971 -
171972 -
171973 - ...is the foundation of "c o m m u n i t y."
171974 - - - - - - - - - -
171976 - ..
171977 - Projects comprise a highly focused community of interests, skills and
171978 - perspectives directed toward common goals. Yet competing interests
171979 - and perspectives diffuse this focus. When projects begin, everyone
171980 - starts out marching together; but later they are moving apart. POIMS
171981 - says "automated integration" of communication metrics with cost and
171982 - schedule control, maintains the focus on objectives, understandings,
171983 - time and cost, necessary for consistent progress, see ref OF 1 line
171984 - 339.
171985 -
171986 - [See later discussion with City of San Francisco RE, ref SDS 34
171987 - 8900; and on communication metrics at ref SDS 35 0000.]
171988 -
171989 -
171990 -
171991 -
1720 -
SUBJECTS
Diary Records Aid Creativity Hunches Incite by Showing Patterns, SDS
Organizational Memory Who, What, When, Where, Why, How, How Much
Contemporaneous Documentation Software Engineer's Journal
Diary Improves Understanding of Cause and Effect, SDS Enhances Contex
2506 -
250701 - ..
250702 - Diary of Lessons Learned Aerospace company Example of Good Management
250703 -
250704 - Kerzner advocates (see page 40) that organizations who are mature in
250705 - project management keep a "diary" of their experience. This is a
250706 - precursor of the "thinking through writing" concept that redounds to
250707 - "communication metrics" when implemented with adequate tools, as set
250708 - out in POIMS, and applied through SDS. ref OF 1 1X6G
250710 - ..
250711 - The diary method reflects Covey's recommendation on "sharpening the
250712 - saw," reviewed on 921205. ref SDS 9 1121
250713 -
250714 - Kerzner cited Beoing as an example where this practice has been
250715 - applied to advantage.
250716 -
250717 - Dr Mike Little with Boeing addressed PMI in Seattle on 890513.
250718 - ref SDS 2 2222 In discussion following his talk, Doctor Little
250719 - indicated that the lure of "Feel Good" management to executives,
250720 - can only be overcome by automation, and that Boeing architecture
250721 - is striving to develop decision support tools for management. On
250722 - 911123 "Feel Good" management was defined by Morris. ref SDS 5
250723 - 1331
250724 -
250725 - [On 950721 diary supports "continual learning" required by ISO
250726 - 10006. ref SDS 38 2846]
250728 - ..
250729 - [On 041118 telecon Woody, Gary, Gil discussed SDS features that
250730 - are not common requirements in industry; Gil feels company
250731 - should be proactive making people aware of features for saving
250732 - time and money. ref SDS 51 JF9J
250734 - ..
250735 - [On 051130 article in AIA Architect requires documentation for
250736 - good management to work accurately, communications aligned with
250737 - original sources, ref SDS 52 G46F, but notes that during the
250738 - past quarter century, documentation has grown significantly;
250739 - projects that required only a few file boxes in the 1980s
250740 - result in many times that amount today. ref SDS 52 Z16L
250742 - ..
250743 - As with the Cal Tech seminar on 921021, Kerzner presented no guidance
250744 - nor incite on the advantage of automated "records management" to
250745 - improve executive productivity. see ref SDS 7 5692
250746 -
250747 -
250749 - ..
250750 - Executive Sponsorship Critical to Effective Project Management
250751 -
250752 - Kerzner emphasized in his lecture the importance of executive support
250753 - for project management because many processes require current efforts
250754 - that pay off over the life of the project, rather than return
250755 - immediate benefits, e.g., a CPM schedule, document log, giving notice
250756 - of difficulties, etc. These investments can seem like "overkill" and
250757 - so leadership must empower people to overcome resistance to tasks that
250758 - bring long term benefits.
250760 - ..
250761 - This sounds similar to complaint about SDS on 890324. ref SDS 1 6894
250762 -
250763 - [On 950204 Morris reported on seminar where SDS type practices
250764 - were endorsed, but he feels this is overkill. ref SDS 30 5932]
250766 - ..
250767 - Kerzner offered guidelines for building executive sponsorship on
250768 - projects. One idea requires clarification though. Page 45 says that
250769 - to achieve:
250770 -
250771 - Project Management Maturity
250772 -
250773 - 7. Provide executives with project sponsor information, not
250774 - project management information.
250775 -
250777 - ..
250778 - Dr Kerzner illustrated his idea by stating that if an executive gets a
250779 - report with a staple or paper clip, the report is too big. He says
250780 - executives already have a lot of paper and so they should be provided
250781 - with summary information, and if they want more on a particular
250782 - matter, they will request it.
250784 - ..
250785 - Kerzner here succumbs to the trap of confusing information for
250786 - "knowledge," endemic to the New World Order, per ref OF 2 line 48.
250787 -
250789 - ..
250790 - At PG&E a better methodology is the POIMS concept of:
250791 -
250792 - Controlled Visibility
250793 -
250794 - ...set out at ref OF 1 line 174, and reported to Chris Snyder at
250795 - ref SDS 19 line 109.
250797 - ..
250798 - Information is presented at the level of detail required for a
250799 - decision, and support information is instantly available in deeper
250800 - and deeper windows of detail, down to the original source. The
250801 - decision maker is not dependent on the competency, good faith or
250802 - timeliness of those who submit information (see analysis of how
250803 - "automated integration" improves earnings at ref SDS 10 line 89).
250804 -
250805 -
250806 -
250807 -
2509 -
SUBJECTS
PG&E, Objectives/scope
2603 -
260401 - ..
260402 - Chris Snyder attended this event. I thanked him for Bill DeHart's
260403 - evaluation of SDS, and I asked about presenting "Communication
260404 - Metrics" to a wider audience at PG&E.
260405 -
260406 - Chris said something about inadequate budgets and bad timing.
260408 - ..
260409 - I did not pursue this because we only had a few minutes, but it seems
260410 - that SDS can be presented within the budgets being allocated to attend
260411 - sessions like the Kerzner lecture.
260413 - ..
260414 - Chris said he saw Bill DeHart the other day.
260416 - ..
260417 - Chris attended with a member of the PG&E PM group, who, following the
260418 - seminar, had difficulty with the car. The battery seemed to have
260419 - lost charge, so they left the car and drove back in Chris' car.
260420 -
260421 -
260422 -
260423 -
2605 -
SUBJECTS
Design Firms
Sandia Labs, Livermore
2804 -
280501 - ..
280502 - Met Nino Borsoni, with Eichleay Engineers. Turns out he is working
280503 - with Jake McMichaels at Sandia. I explained my efforts to develop
280504 - work at Sandia with Jake, ref SDS 28 line 39.
280505 -
280506 - 510 689 7000
280508 - ..
280509 - I gave him an SDS & POIMS brochure with the large triangle. He
280510 - examined it during the presentation.
280512 - ..
280513 - Nino's firm gave a presentation to PMI in October on ref SDS 20 line
280514 - 276. He recalled that I requested information from his firm on their
280515 - PMI presentation, but did not leave a phone number, and so they were
280516 - not able to follow up.
280517 -
280518 - [See follow up at ref SDS 32 line 36.]
280519 -
2806 -
Distribution. . . . See "CONTACTS"