CONTACTS 
0201 - Transamerica Realty Services, Inc. 415 983 5497
020101 - Mr. Donald G. Harms
0202 - IPS, Livermore                     510 449 3832 fax 3541
020201 - Ms. Catherine Tonne

SUBJECTS
Writing First Understand Discover What We
Experience Captured SDS Diary, Linked
Knowledge from Experience, SDS Diary Links
Analyse New Information Write Story to Construct Meaning Consistent w

1406 -    ..
1407 - Summary/Objective
1408 -
140801 - Follow up ref SDS 10 0000, ref SDS 9 0000.
140802 -
140803 - Don asked about the difference between SDS and Lotus Notes following
140804 - our discussions last week about Transamerica supporting an effort to
140805 - study the potential for automated management to improve productivity
140806 - and earnings.
140807 -
140808 -
140809 -
1409 -
1410 -
1411 - Background
1412 -
141201 - I met with the University of Santa Clara on 951012 about a formal
141202 - study showing how SDS leverages the capacity to think, remember and
141203 - communicate, ref SDS 8 line 575, to study "knowledge creep" as part of
141204 - connectionist theory in cognitive science, ref SDS 8 line 418, and to
141205 - develop strategies for organizations to cope with culture shock in
141206 - applying technologies and methods like SDS which uses POIMS and
141207 - implements Communication Metrics, ref SDS 8 line 251.
141208 -
141209 - Last week I pointed to Transamerica's interest in Lotus Notes as
141210 - showing corporate interest in using automated management tools
141211 - effectively, and suggested this interest might generate support for
141212 - the study, ref SDS 10 0000.
141213 -
141214 -
141215 -
1413 -
1414 -
1415 - Progress
1416 -
141601 -  ..
141602 - "Writing to Learn, to Know, to Understand, to Remember
141603 - ------------------------------------------------------
141604 - I explained the difference between SDS and Lotus Notes has been
141605 - presented in prior discussions and in my letter of Jul 14, at
141606 - ref DIP 1 line 27. I suggested a better way to grasp and remember the
141607 - difference between SDS and Lotus Notes is for Don to write down his
141608 - understanding of what each does based on what has already been
141609 - submitted and his independent research.  Don reported in July that
141610 - someone at Transamerica is using Lotus Notes, ref SDS 4 line 39.  What
141611 - is that person doing with Lotus Notes, how much of the day do they do
141612 - it, and how does it contribute to that person's and to Transamerica's
141613 - income?
141614 -
141615 - Then do the same for SDS:  "What do I understand SDS does?"
141616 -
141617 -      [On 951212 used this discussion to develope a working definition
141618 -      of "understanding" for the management process. ref SDS 13 8022]
141619 -
141620 -
141621 - Experience Imparts Knowledge & Understanding
141622 -
141623 - The reason I suggested writing this out is that new ideas are hard to
141624 - remember until there is personal experience in performing them, like a
141625 - Doctor, auto mechanic, salesman, or executive who does the same things
141626 - over and over for many years.  This kind of repetition imparts real
141627 - "knowledge" which means "understanding" (linkage) of cause and effect.
141628 -
141629 - Without the opportunity to regularly use ideas, more information about
141630 - them has no anchor, and this makes it hard to remember, ref SDS 13
141631 - 8022.  More discussion is just more confusing.  Since Don has no
141632 - experience with SDS nor with Lotus Notes, some initial struggle (i.e.,
141633 - intellectual investment) is needed to form a baseline "understanding"
141634 - which can then be tested and expanded by new information conveyed
141635 - about them. This method is a key aspect of Communication Metrics
141636 - implemented by SDS.  SDS lets you create and continaully update links
141637 - of cause and effect, so you can understand better what you know,
141638 - recognize what you need to know more about, and integrate new
141639 - information to create that missing knowledge, ref OF 1 line 326. Lotus
141640 - Notes does not do this.
141641 -
141642 -
141643 -  ..
141644 - Continual Learning & Improved Thinking
141645 -
141646 - People resist writing out their understanding because it seems faster
141647 - and easier for someone to tell them what they want to "know."  This
141648 - works when what is told relates to what is already known, i.e., there
141649 - is experience with the issue.  Culture shock occurs when techniques
141650 - considerably foreign to our experience are proposed, such as using
141651 - Communication Metrics to test understanding suggested above.  These
141652 - ideas have been recognized in recent years under the International
141653 - Standards Organization (ISO), which calls for traceability to original
141654 - sources ref SDS 6 line 588, and Continual Learning, ref SDS 6 line
141655 - 485.  Such methods require some initial effort, but have been found to
141656 - significantly enhance understanding and thereby performance.  That is
141657 - the underlying logic of ISO 9000 requirements.
141658 -
141659 -     Importance of "Continaul Learning" is at ref SDS 8 line 566.
141660 -
141661 -     [Correlation with SDS "Management Cycle", ref SDS 12 line 127.]
141662 -
141663 -
141664 -
141665 -
1417 -

SUBJECTS
Lotus Notes & IBM, 910625
Document Management Systems
Documents Change to Automated Knowledge

1906 -
190601 - Differences between Lotus Notes and SDS
190602 -
190603 - The initial conceptual difference is that Lotus Notes supports the
190604 - creation, distribution and maintenance of "documents" that provide
190605 - information.  Documents from Lotus Development contain explanations of
190606 - how well Lotus Notes helps people perform traditional documentation
190607 - tasks.  SDS says, "Hey, we have too many documents!  We have too much
190608 - information from meetings, phone calls, e-mail, faxes. We need more
190609 - knowledge!"  SDS provides more knowledge by enabeling people to write
190610 - things down and link them up to time, information, people, other
190611 - documents and subjects (see the notes of meeting with Santa Clara
190612 - University at ref SDS 8 line 95, submitted to Don at ref SDS 10 line
190613 - 53).  Lotus Notes cannot do this linkage.
190614 -
190615 - The difference between "Documents" and "Knowledge" is explained in the
190616 - notes of the meeting with Santa Clara University, ref SDS 8 line 138.
190617 -
190618 - Investor worries about the adequacy of automated management tools is
190619 - at ref SDS 11 line 55.
190620 -
190621 -
190622 -
190623 - What You Can Do with Lotus Notes
190624 -
190625 - Lotus Notes enables the User to write "Notes" to other people and send
190626 - them via e-mail.  You can incorporate pictures and things like CPM
190627 - schedules and spreadsheets.  A strong feature of Lotus Notes is to
190628 - "replicate" documents between work stations and/or common servers.
190629 - This means computers connected by modem can have the same documents
190630 - and/or the same versions of the same documents.  So if you have made a
190631 - change in a memo or analysis, and someone else has also made a change,
190632 - then the document with the most recent change is "replicated" on
190633 - everyone's computer.
190634 -
190635 -     See also analysis of LN documentation at ref SDS 1 line 72.
190636 -
190637 - People use Lotus Notes about 1% to 15% of their work day, see for
190638 - example IBM employee who has been using LN for 2 years, ref SDS 7 line
190639 - 252, and ref SDS 7 line 297.
190640 -
190641 - I suggested that Don inquire with Cathy Tonne at IPS who has reported
190642 - developing a useful application of Lotus Notes for managers, ref SDS 5
190643 - line 54.
190644 -
190645 -     I spoke to Cathy a few days later.  She said IPS has completed
190646 -     their application.  They call it "Advisor".  There is no
190647 -     liturature yet, but she hopes to have some by mid-Dec, when they
190648 -     will be demonstrating the system at "Project World" in San Jose,
190649 -     sponsored by PMI.  Cathy would like to show Don how they use Lotus
190650 -     Notes following up our discussions in Jul, at ref SDS 5 line 55.
190651 -
190652 -        [See follow up at ref SDS 14 line 203.]
190653 -
190654 -
190655 -
190656 -
1907 -

SUBJECTS
SDS Explanation
Communication Metrics
Accounting Analogy
Operating System for People & Organizations
Communication Metrics Risk Management,
Metrics Conflicting Understanding in
New Way Thinking Through Writing Write Story to Construct Meaning Con
Discover Correlations Implications Nuance Action Items from Align wit
New Way Working Plan Perform Report Look Before You Leap Schedule Dra
Knowledge is Power Understanding then Respond after Converting Inform

3313 -
331301 - What You Can Do with SDS
331302 -
331303 - SDS enables people to write notes to themselves called a "Diary" and
331304 - to other people, when needed, and to organize information according to
331305 - time, people, and subjects.  SDS integrates personal analysis with
331306 - external sources such as books, magazines, letters, contracts, company
331307 - policies.  SDS lists documents issued and received for which response
331308 - is owed; it shows when response is due and by whom.  SDS linking and
331309 - retrieval tools accomplish the requirement of ISO 9000 and ISO 10006
331310 - for traceabilty to original sources.  The SDS diary supports ISO
331311 - requirements for Continual Learning by automating the management
331312 - process of...
331313 -
331314 -                      plan, perform, report
331315 -
331316 -    ...called out as well by Edward Deming's work in TQM, ref OF 1 line
331317 -    437.  SDS use of "automated integration" of time, information and
331318 -    subjects is unique, and makes it practical to implement ISO and TQM
331319 -    processes regularly.  Routine use of sound management practice has
331320 -    been reported by Drucker and others to be the best path to better
331321 -    productivity and higher earnings.  For this reason, SDS makes the
331322 -    personal computer an effective:
331323 -
331324 -
331325 -            Operating System for People and Organizations
331326 -
331327 -
331328 - People can use SDS about 30% to 80% of the time because it supports a
331329 - much wider range of daily management activity:  thinking, remembering
331330 - and communicating.  This solves the concern that people can only use
331331 - about 10% of their mental capacity because events move too quickly to
331332 - retain correlations and implications that comprise useful knowledge as
331333 - distinct from information.
331334 -
331335 -     [See article on "Turning Straw into Gold" ref SDS 15 line 81.]
331336 -
331337 -
331338 - Risk Management
331339 -
331340 - Use of SDS constitutes a new management science of...
331341 -
331342 -
331343 -                      "Communication Metrics."
331344 -
331345 -
331346 - The flow of information is too fast from meetings, phone calls, fax
331347 - and correspondence, for executives to learn a new set of tools and to
331348 - craft a record like this one.  The Information Highway, which is a
331349 - metaphor of this increased information flow, requires that executives
331350 - take steps under risk management standards to measure understandings
331351 - from communications for accuracy and consistency with prior events,
331352 - commitments, policies and contracts.
331353 -
331354 - Therefore, initially, a new discipline, called
331355 -
331356 -                      Communication Manager
331357 -
331358 -    ... is needed to perform Communication Metrics using SDS, as at
331359 -    PG&E, similar to Don's understanding that the executive at
331360 -    Transamerica who is trying Lotus Notes, has someone assigned to
331361 -    support the effort.
331362 -
331363 -
331364 -
331365 - Communication Metrics is Proactive
331366 -
331367 - It discovers misunderstanding and fixes it before a mistake occurs
331368 - that costs money.  This "Concurrent Discovery" process is analogous to
331369 - "Concurrent Engineering" and is made practical by technology, SDS.
331370 -
331371 - Firms who use accountants, cost and schedule engineers to discover
331372 - deviations in projected outcomes, can use Communication Metrics to
331373 - improve the bottom line reported by the accountant, by avoiding cost
331374 - and schedule deviations caused by failures in communications.  Since
331375 - most management problems can be traced to failures in communications,
331376 - using SDS can greatly improve earnings, as reported by PG&E.
331377 -
331378 - Lotus Notes cannot do this because it only creates documents; it
331379 - increases the risk of error because it does not provide linkage.
331380 - Earnings are improved by better command and application of knowledge
331381 - and ideas.  This requires linkage.  That is what SDS does.
331382 -
331383 -
331384 -
331385 -
3314 -

SUBJECTS
Vendors Who Have Been Successful Should be
Spreadsheets Wordprocessing Don't Improve
Leading Vendors are Believed to Have
Credibility Based on Source Rather than
Programmers Don't Know What to Program That
Hard Create Automated Management Discover

3909 -
390901 - Better Risk Management Tools are Risky
390902 -
390903 - Tools produced by mainstream vendors are appealing because it seems
390904 - likely that, having produced good products, like spreadsheets and
390905 - wordprocessors, a mainstream vendor can produce a worthwhile program
390906 - to automate sound management practice.  Risk management says if you do
390907 - not have time to test a program's usefulness, then buy what is
390908 - produced by a mainstream vendor and hope it is useful.  Since
390909 - everybody is busy with meetings and phone calls, it makes a lot of
390910 - sense to use this procurement strategy.  Unfortunately, automating
390911 - sound management practice is more complicated than producing good
390912 - spreadsheet and wordprocessing programs because "management" is more
390913 - complex than arithmatic and writing.  Tom Landauer says in his recent
390914 - book "The Trouble with Computers" that mainstream vendors have not
390915 - produced anything that helps very much to run businesses, because
390916 - programmers don't know what to program, ref SDS 3 line 565.  You have
390917 - to be a mangaer for a long time to figure that out, and most managers
390918 - with that experience are too busy with meetings and phone calls to
390919 - program anything.  It takes a special set of circumstances to produce
390920 - someone who can create something useful, ref SDS 2 line 265.  By
390921 - definition this is risky.  So a study is needed to develop evidence
390922 - executives can rely on to evaluate SDS, because they do not have time
390923 - to think carefully about it.  They want evidence from a credible
390924 - source they can accept without critical analysis because they don't
390925 - have enough time to think critically.
390926 -
390927 -
390928 -