THE WELCH COMPANY
440 Davis Court #1602
San Francisco, CA 94111-2496
415 781 5700


S U M M A R Y


DIARY: May 2, 1995 11:05 AM Tuesday; Rod Welch

Received call from Rosanne Sykes re SDS demonstration.

1...Summary/Objective
2...Communication Metrics Workshop Improve Leadership
.....3.Day Seminar
3...Publishing in PMI Newsletter


..............
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CONTACTS 

SUBJECTS
PMI events
Communication Metrics workshop
Communications, Mistakes & Coverups
Failed Communications, Anger, Frustrations,
Leadership with Broader Vision to Apply New
Leadership Broader Vision, Technology

1408 -    ..
1409 - Summary/Objective
1410 -
141001 - Followed up work at ref SDS 11 line 52. ref SDS 7 line 61, and at
141002 - ref SDS 5 line 100, and ref DIP 1 line 30.
141003 -
141004 - Rosanne Sykes                     415 312 8444
141005 -
141006 -
141007 -
1411 -
1412 -
1413 -
1414 - Discussion
1415 -
141501 - Rosanne asked me to call toward the end of next week to schedule time
141502 - for the following week to do an SDS demonstration, per ref SDS 5 line
141503 - 93.
141504 -
141505 -  ..
141506 - Communication Metrics Workshop Improve Leadership
141507 -
141508 - We reviewed need for a professional event on Communication Metrics to
141509 - develop a better solution to leadership failures than was presented at
141510 - the PMI meeting last month.  Communication needs and opportunities are
141511 - reported in the record at 950327, ref SDS 4 2108, and background from
141512 - Joel Koppleman's presentation on Primavera to PMI on 950412, shows
141513 - leadership needs support using technology, ref SDS 6 3920, and also
141514 - Gopal Kapur's workshop on management productivity on 950428,
141515 - ref SDS 9 3921.
141516 -
141517 - This record shows need for better partnership between leadership and
141518 - technology that strengthens listening for accurate understanding and
141519 - timel follow up to get things done correctly, on time and within
141520 - budget, noticed for example on 890809. ref SDS 1 CJ9J
141521 -
141522 -  ..
141523 - Rosanne requested a one page summary of structure and forum (workshop,
141524 - panel, conference) on "communications."
141525 -
141526 -         [On 960307 plan to present partnership between leadership and
141527 -         technology. ref SDS 13 4492
141528 -
141529 -         [On 950601 planning meeting. ref SDS 12 5683
141530 -
141531 -         [On 960715 final results of 1996 Asilomar conference.
141532 -         ref SDS 14 0001
141533 -     ..
141534 -     My initial idea would be a panel that would present ways in
141535 -     which Lotus Notes is being used with MS Project, ref SDS 7 4839.
141536 -     Rosanne could do this.  Bill DeHart and Chris Snyder could present
141537 -     the ways in which SDS was used with MS project.  Possibly we could
141538 -     get Joel to tell us again how he implemented Primavera.
141539 -
141540 -     Sherrill McDonald could explain the diary he keeps, similar to
141541 -     Stephen Covey's recommendations to "sharpen the saw," and "seek
141542 -     first to understand, then prescribe."
141543 -
141544 -     Would like to relate communications with risk management, ref SDS
141545 -     4 4828, and explore the relevance of the PMBOK Guide, received
141546 -     from Bill Duncan at the PMA conference in Phoenix.
141547 -
141548 -     Maybe we could get Morris to come in and explain how
141549 -     communications are handled at Chips & Technologies, and get Dan
141550 -     Ono to tell us about communications at AT&T.
141551 -     ..
141552 -     Perhaps Eric Jennet could sit in and explain his view of
141553 -     what is wrong with meetings, ref SDS 3 2290.
141554 -
141555 -     Get Russ Archibald to tell us about how to use props, and the
141556 -     planning room concepts discussed at Asilomar ref SDS 2 8409.
141557 -
141558 -     The audience will participate in explaining their biggest concern
141559 -     in "communications":
141560 -
141561 -                          Too many meetings
141562 -
141563 -     What can be done to improve meetings, telephone, e-mail, letters?
141564 -
141565 -        The main challenge is ensuring common understanding and timely
141566 -        follow up.
141567 -
141568 -     ..
141569 -     We can offer some theory to explain difference between
141570 -     information and knowledge.  How do we "know" when we "know"
141571 -     something. If I tell you the check is in the mail, do you "know"
141572 -     that the check is in the mail?  If I say SDS is the most powerful
141573 -     tool available to improve earnings, do you "know" what impact SDS
141574 -     will have on earnings?
141575 -
141576 -     Difference between "communication" and talking, leadership, per
141577 -     Drucker.
141578 -
141579 -     PMBOK "communication" and "communicating" in section 2 and 10.
141580 -     What is the significance.
141581 -
141582 -
141583 -      ..
141584 -     3 Day Seminar
141585 -
141586 -     If we were to do a three day event, it might have something like
141587 -     the following agenda:
141588 -
141589 -     The first day would be devoted to conferees setting out a list of
141590 -     "communication" problems encountered in typical work scenarios.
141591 -     Analysis of those problems by conferees to see how common they
141592 -     are, and what solutions various conferees have developed.  So day
141593 -     one is to define the problem and develop current thinking in the
141594 -     work place.
141595 -
141596 -     The 2nd day would be a panel of experts presenting solutions, as
141597 -     explained above.
141598 -     ..
141599 -     The 3rd day would be conferees evaluating ideas presented on
141600 -     the 2nd day, relative to their work experience and circumstances.
141601 -     There would be some interactive tasks to test ideas, similar to
141602 -     Russ Archibald's "Planning Meeting" scenario at Asilomar,
141603 -     ref SDS 2 6678.
141604 -
141605 - Would like to get Bill DeHart to help with this because of his
141606 - experience with prior PMI seminars, and with SDS at PG&E.
141607 -
141608 -         [See final results at 1996 Asilomar, ref SDS 14 8830.]
141609 -
141610 -
141611 -
141612 -
1417 -

SUBJECTS
Publishing Articles in PMI Journals

1504 -
150401 -  ..
150402 - Publishing in PMI Newsletter
150403 -
150404 - She said attendees can submit information to Susan:
150405 -
150406 -                      408 269 7422
150407 -
150408 -
150409 - She said this month's Newsletter is messed up.  Dan Ono is not going
150410 - to be the Forum Leader, as shown in the Newsletter.
150411 -
150412 - Maybe we can get Tom Marky at PG&E to be the Forum Leader to explain
150413 - how helpful SDS was in managing the CDWR projects.  Or, he could
150414 - explain the lessons learned from planning the PMI Asilomar Conferenc,
150415 - ref SDS 7 line 71.
150416 -
150417 -
150418 -
150419 -
1505 -

SUBJECTS
Senior Council

1604 -
160401 - Followed up discusisons at ref SDS 7 line 149.
160402 -
160403 - Rosanne said PMI has had problems from over reliance on senior members
160404 - who mostly come from the construction industry.  She noted that
160405 - project management practices used in construction are not applicable
160406 - to other industries like IT, Oil and Gas, Pharmaceuticals, Defense,
160407 - and so on, which now comprise a greater share of PMI membership.  She
160408 - feels these demographics indicate that the construction PM experience
160409 - should not be the primary voice in the PMI chapter.  I mentioned the
160410 - discussion with David McClure in which he expressed similar concerns,
160411 - ref SDS 8 line 89.
160412 -
160413 - We considered how senior PMI members should reasonably be expected to
160414 - represent the construction industry because they formed PMI.  After
160415 - starting PMI, the founders had the vision to invite people from other
160416 - industries to share ideas.  Our challenge is to keep the benefit of
160417 - their experience, while continuing to cross pollinate ideas from other
160418 - industries.  Since construction has the longest history with projects,
160419 - e.g., pyramids, London Bridge, transcontinental railroad, Panama
160420 - Canal, Golden Gate Bridge, then this history may have valuable lessons
160421 - for newer industries just beginning to try project management.
160422 - ..
160423 - This need is seen from Gopal's remarks last Friday, that the IT
160424 - industry does not have professional estimators, cost or schedule
160425 - engineers, ref SDS 9 line 77, and as a result they generally prepare
160426 - sloppy estimates, and plans that fail, as explained by Joel Koppleman
160427 - at the PMI meeting the other day, ref SDS 6 line 233.
160428 -
160429 - The fact that IT firms are unable to use the technology which they
160430 - create and market to control actual costs and progress, should sound
160431 - an alarm that there is something very valuable about experienced
160432 - project managers that is worth maintaining.
160433 -
160434 - Perhaps it takes a lot of years for a new culture to learn old
160435 - lessons.   People have try the same blind, yet alluring, alleys hoping
160436 - for a short cut, in order to discover that the long way around is the
160437 - short way there.  Accordingly, IT and other new industries may be too
160438 - young to have learned the lessons derived from long hard years of
160439 - experience on the pyramids, London Bridge, transcontinental railroad,
160440 - Panama Canal and the Golden Gate Bridge, that young, smart, energetic
160441 - people make a lot of mistakes that cause their projects to fail, if
160442 - they do not apply sound management practices.
160443 - ..
160444 - Gopal said Friday that he expects that IT is still 5 to 10 years
160445 - away from applying these practices.  So in the meantime, it may be
160446 - helpful to have people around PMI who have already learned this stuff.
160447 -
160448 -
160449 -