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: January 3, 1996 08:00 AM Wednesday; Rod Welch

Meeting Jack Farless at Corp of Engineers re SDS.

1...Summary/Objective
2...Background - General Contractor
3...Automated Linking Adds Value to Communications
4...Shared Meaning Difficult with Huge Data Base of Information
5...Email Not Productive
6...Converting Documents into "Knowledge"
7...Automated Action Items
8...Reengineering & Risk Management
9...New Systems Take More Time
.....Computers Reduce Management Productivity
10...Automated Integration Improves Management
11...Communication Manager Uses SDS
....1...There isn't Enough Time - False Knowledge
....2...Debugging Management is Psychologically Demanding - Fear
....4...Management Culture - Denial
12...Sound Alert Like the Wise Ant Helped the Lazy Unwary Grasshopper
13...Follow Up


..............
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CONTACTS 
0201 - Corps of Engineers, SPD                                                                                                                                            O-00000631 0201
020101 - Mr. Jack E. Farless; Director
020102 - Construction Operations

SUBJECTS
McCellen AFB Air Freight Terminal USACE Welch History Constructing B
Send product information, requesting give demo.
Locate Decision Maker
Demonstrate SDS, Communication Metrics
Email Degrades Writing, Communication, Understanding, Management, Le
History
USACE Jack Farless Demonstrate SDS for Communication Metrics Strengt

1009 -
1009 -    ..
1010 - Summary/Objective
1011 -
101101 - Follow up ref SDS 10 0000, ref SDS 7 0000.
101102 -
101103 - Jack indicated SDS might supplement the Corps' contract management
101104 - system which has been under evaluation for the past six (6) years.  He
101105 - will recommend a demonstration for a larger group in February.
101106 -
101107 -     [On 960108 submitted this record to confirm understandings.
101108 -     ref SDS 13 0001
101109 -
101110 -
101112 -  ..
1012 -
1013 -
1014 - Progress
1015 -
101501 - I delivered the letter, ref DIP 2 line 32, to Jack, confirming our
101502 - discussion yesterday.  Jack had a few minutes so we used my notebook
101503 - computer to look at the Schedule Diary System (SDS), which is the
101504 - technology that implements Communication Metrics.
101505 -
101507 -  ..
101508 - Background - General Contractor
101509 -
101510 - Reviewed Welch background as a General Contractor that revealed how
101511 - technology can help the complex craft of management.
101512 -
101513 -     [On 000723 background in Welch v California, ref SDS 20 0001, and
101514 -     history of SDS development. ref SDS 20 0008
101516 -  ..
101517 - Jack recalled knowing Ben Yokomizo, who was the RE for USACE on the
101518 - Air Freight Terminal which I built at McClellan AFB in 1971.  Exposure
101519 - to thorough contract practices at an early age formed the basis for
101520 - the POIMS concept formulated in 1986 of "Command and Control of the
101521 - Record." ref OF 1 1113  I drew a graph showing how automation must
101522 - emulate the mental faculty of integrating time and information in
101523 - order to improve management productivity.
101524 -
101525 -
101527 -  ..
101528 - Automated Linking Adds Value to Communications
101529 -
101530 - I showed how our meeting today is linked back to our prior discussions
101531 - and correspondence, and how that information can be accessed in SDS
101532 - instantly, so there is a constant correlation between what we do and
101533 - what we planned to do, and what has been previously considered and
101534 - committed to be performed.
101536 -  ..
101537 - Other than SDS, the only other technology that can do this is the
101538 - human mind, and it makes mistakes as the pace and volume of the work
101539 - increases.
101540 -
101541 -     Jack said the SPD has been testing a construction management
101542 -     system for the past six (6) years that is about to be applied more
101543 -     broadly within the Corps.
101544 -     ..
101545 -     He feels SDS can supplement this capability so senior
101546 -     management can integrate and follow up information and
101547 -     initiatives.
101548 -
101550 -  ..
101551 - Shared Meaning Difficult with Huge Data Base of Information
101552 -
101553 - Jack asked how information is shared among users, and noted that a
101554 - major challenge under the Corps' present practice is gaining access to
101555 - critical information when people are absent from the office.
101556 -
101557 -     I explained the SDS program is designed to share knowledge,
101558 -     explained in the New World Order... paper as maintaining "shared
101559 -     meaning." ref OF 2 line 347.  The Communication Manager does this.
101560 -     Experience at PG&E shows this new role using SDS produces more
101561 -     shared knowledge than any other approach.
101563 -      ..
101564 -     We need to investigate how SDS can be deployed to support the
101565 -     Corps' existing business systems to meet peculiar requirements.
101566 -
101568 -  ..
101569 - Email Not Productive
101570 - Converting Documents into "Knowledge"
101571 -
101572 - Jack showed an email he recently received.  He said the Corps' systems
101573 - do not correlate content with other information, organizational
101574 - objectives and commitments, which is essential to understand and act
101575 - on the constant stream of new information.  He cited inadequate
101576 - directory space.
101578 -  ..
101579 - I mentioned General Hank Hatch made a similar point in our discussion
101580 - on 951229, where he observed that Communication Metrics automates the
101581 - Army's "intelligence" process of creating timely "knowledge," except
101582 - SDS does this in the field where knowledge is needed immediately.
101583 - ref SDS 9 2036
101584 - ..
101585 - Jack and I examined the agenda for PMI's event where General
101586 - Hatch may speak.  The thesis is the challenge of change from documents
101587 - and dialog to automated "knowledge," explained in the New World Order
101588 - ... paper submitted to Jack via my letter of Dec 20. ref DIP 1 0001
101589 -
101590 -
101592 -  ..
101593 - Automated Action Items
101594 -
101595 - I did an Action Item report that showed our meeting set for tomorrow,
101596 - and then changed the status, so it is now a performed task.  Clicking
101597 - on an Action Item reveals background linked to each activity, analysis
101598 - where work was performed and any related documents.
101600 -  ..
101601 - Jack feels SDS fills a critical need at the Corps of providing access
101602 - to diverse information.
101603 -
101605 -  ..
101606 - Reengineering & Risk Management
101607 -
101608 - Jack feels the current focus on reducing government means budgets do
101609 - not have room for a Communications Manager.
101610 -
101611 -
101612 -     I noted projects are not budgeted to fail.  The Space Shuttle "O"
101613 -     Ring matter is a common example, ref SDS 1 4499.
101615 -      ..
101616 -     Organizations cutting back to economize are being asked to justify
101617 -     staffing based on value added.  Value added by Communication
101618 -     Metrics is set out in the New World Order... paper on p. 6 center
101619 -     column para 4, and p. 8 center column para 3.  In sum, when we
101620 -     "reengineer" by reducing staff and increasing information, e.g.,
101621 -     fax, email, then fewer people are chasing more information.  This
101622 -     is fuel for an organization imploding on itself described in the
101623 -     NWO... paper, p. 4 col 1 para 2, ref OF 2 line 504.  How to
101624 -     address this risk?   We must "reengineer" to convert information
101625 -     into knowledge faster, better, cheaper.  There is no real choice.
101626 -     ..
101627 -     Someone must align communications under traceability and
101628 -     continual learning requirements in the ISO criteria, so that the
101629 -     remaining staff can be successful.  This is a new kind of skill in
101630 -     the age of the Information Highway that combines experienced
101631 -     management with computer skills, ref SDS 5 line 575.  If this is
101632 -     not done, management will soon be overwhelmed causing budgets to
101633 -     explode when mistakes become manifest, as with the "O" ring
101634 -     problem on the Space Shuttle.
101635 -
101636 -         The need for these new skills was discussed with Morris in
101637 -         connection with explaining "reengineering" to the PMI Asilomar
101638 -         event next July, ref SDS 11 line 72.
101639 -
101641 -  ..
101642 - New Systems Take More Time
101643 -
101644 - Jack commented that initiatives, like the Project Management program
101645 - in the Corps, need to be thought through carefully with respect to
101646 - information flows and staffing.  Sometimes it can seem that everybody
101647 - is working for the computer, rather than the computer working for the
101648 - organization.  This supports analysis at ref SDS 2 line 187.
101649 -
101651 -      ..
101652 -     Computers Reduce Management Productivity
101653 -
101654 -     Tom Landauer's book "The Trouble with Computers" describes why it
101655 -     is difficult for computers to improve management, ref SDS 4 line
101656 -     276.  A lot of things have to be improved together in order to
101657 -     help managers.  This requires "integration" ref OF 2 line 314. Mr.
101658 -     Landauer says computer programmers don't know how to "manage," so
101659 -     they don't know what to integrate, ref SDS 4 line 408.  They
101660 -     produce automation that produces information, but consumes time
101661 -     managers need to create knowledge and ideas that improve
101662 -     performance.  Computer systems reduce the time managers have to
101663 -     think, remember and communicate, i.e., to "manage."
101664 -
101665 -
101667 -  ..
101668 - Automated Integration Improves Management
101669 -
101670 - Since organizations have adopted management systems that produce more
101671 - information through meetings, reports, calls, fax and email, the only
101672 - way to improve "management" is to automate the process of converting
101673 - all of that additional information into useful knowledge.  The New
101674 - World Order... paper defines this concept under POIMS technology as
101675 - "automated integration" to think, remember and communicate.  It means
101676 - using automation to create the knowledge managers need as a by-product
101677 - of creating the information organizations need; hence POIMS:
101678 -
101679 -        Personal and Organizational Integrated Management System
101681 -  ..
101682 - SDS has been designed and shaped by a professional manager over the
101683 - past 12 years to do this.
101684 -
101686 -  ..
101687 - Communication Manager Uses SDS
101688 -
101689 - There are three reasons organizations need a new work discipline to
101690 - apply SDS:
101691 -
101692 -               [See support from DEC, ref SDS 14 4482.]
101694 -         ..
101695 -    1.  There isn't Enough Time - False Knowledge
101696 -
101697 -        Managers are so busy creating information, they do not have
101698 -        time to convert it into knowledge by creating the SDS record.
101699 -        [See example from CE SFD, ref SDS 15 4993].  They do not have
101700 -        time to think about the need to make connections, nor to learn
101701 -        how to do it, ref SDS 8 3116.  They do not have time to
101702 -        recognize mistakes they are making using traditional methods of
101703 -        relying on personal capacity to think, remember and
101704 -        communicate.  Cost and schedule reports reveal mistakes
101705 -        occurred but not in time to avoid the results. Lawsuits,
101706 -        losses, recessions and "reengineering" are attributed to others
101707 -        or to "Muprhy's Law."  It takes a long time and expensive
101708 -        lawyers to trace mistakes to their source under present
101709 -        management practice.  People fear lawsuits because they
101710 -        "discover" the knowledge (i.e., connections) overlooked in the
101711 -        rush to get more information from calls, meetings, email.
101712 -        ..
101713 -        Delayed discovery creates a disconnect between false
101714 -        knowledge that causes problems and its ultimate impact.  This
101715 -        makes it hard for people willing to budget for fax, email, TQM,
101716 -        cellular phones, that they need to produce more knowledge
101717 -        rather than more information.  Someone else must do it.
101718 -
101719 -            See discussion on cultural change with Morris, ref SDS 8
101720 -            4829.
101722 -         ..
101723 -    2.  Debugging Management is Psychologically Demanding - Fear
101724 -
101725 -        The prospect of challenging oneself about what was said, heard,
101726 -        observed, and decided, so it is aligned with organizational
101727 -        objectives and commitments, is demanding.  Many outstanding
101728 -        leaders are not emotionally equipped to withstand continual
101729 -        self-scrutiny that exposes errors.  Some fear they cannot
101730 -        create a fair record; others fear the results if they do.
101732 -         ..
101733 -        Therefore, someone else must do it.
101734 -
101736 -    3.   ..
101737 -    4.  Management Culture - Denial
101738 -
101739 -        The evolution of management, from at least the inception of the
101740 -        alphabet, has created cultural blind spots that make it hard
101741 -        for managers to see their role as converting information into
101742 -        knowledge.  The mind does this innately when there is enough
101743 -        time; so, to most, it seems unnecessary to capture in SDS what
101744 -        transpires in a meeting or phone call in order to discover and
101745 -        accurately apply what we "know."  Managers believe they know
101746 -        what they say, hear and see, and so deny needing an SDS record,
101747 -        as they rush to the next meeting to get more information, ref
101748 -        SDS 8 line 418. They do not "know" that their knowledge is
101749 -        ebbing away as time and information increase, ref SDS 3 line
101750 -        132.  Someone else must create the SDS record.
101751 - ..
101752 - Thus, ignorance, fear and denial require a dedicated resource to
101753 - use SDS, so that the task is accomplished to enable organizational
101754 - culture to discover what is not apparent in the short term: investing
101755 - intellectual capital is rewarding and saves time, as discussed with
101756 - Morris on 951228. ref SDS 8 4829
101758 -  ..
101759 - The process is called Communication Metrics because it measures
101760 - understandings and corrects errors before costly mistakes are made,
101761 - and ensures follow up, called out in ISO as a process of "continual
101762 - learning."  SDS makes this practical.  The Communication Manager makes
101763 - it happen.
101764 -
101765 -     [See later discussion with Turner, ref SDS 17 line 328.]
101766 - ..
101767 - Managers resist this idea until they see results, but results
101768 - require the idea to be used.  Since managers do not have time under
101769 - present practice to learn and/or produce the SDS record, someone else
101770 - must do it under responsible, proactive, risk management.  This is the
101771 - Communication Manager role that....
101772 -
101773 -              reduces mistakes which cause losses, delays, lawsuits,
101774 -              recessions, reengineering.
101776 -  ..
101777 - The Communication Manager "reengineers" by adding value to management
101778 - rather than cannibalizing the organization's productive capacity:
101779 -
101780 -                        experienced managers
101781 -
101782 -
101783 -
1018 -

SUBJECTS
Improve Not Enough Time to Learn about Saving Time Money Using SDS
Bad Times No Time to Improve Good Times Not Needed
Laziness Grasshopper Ant Sunshine Profits Money Coming In Conceals D
Ant Grasshopper Sunshine Profits Invest Experiment Better Methods Co
Investigate Research Study Experiment New Methods Reduce Costs Improv
Good Management Specify Contract Requirements Protect Value at Risk B
Vigilence Wains Sunshine Profits Encourage Bad Management Laziness Fa

2809 -
281001 -  ..
281002 - Sound Alert Like the Wise Ant Helped the Lazy Unwary Grasshopper
281003 -
281004 - Jack noted this is a "hard sell" in the current climate.
281005 -
281006 - I mentioned a recent article on risk management in the December PMJ,
281007 - reviewed on 951212. ref SDS 6 8473
281008 - ..
281009 - Responsible voices must work to be heard above the din of those
281010 - who, through lack of experience (i.e., ignorance) or zeal for a
281011 - furtive agenda, would ignore good management practice, as evidenced by
281012 - the story of the lazy grasshopper who ignored warnings by the prudent
281013 - ant of impending changes in the weather.  All we can do is sound the
281014 - alert that the climate is changing and so we have to meet the new
281015 - condition. The Information Highway is causing management to implode,
281016 - but offers the opportunity for greater growth when coupled with
281017 - Communication Metrics.  Leadership with vision to see this opportunity
281018 - emerging in the current climate of reengineering will be the big
281019 - winner.
281020 -
281021 -      [On 980307 Andy Grove CEO of Intel noticed that new realities
281022 -      cause methods and practices that formerly brought success to
281023 -      fail. ref SDS 19 2648
281024 -
281026 -  ..
281027 - Follow Up
281028 -
281029 - Jack feels his boss and others should see the SDS demonstration.  He
281030 - will propose a demonstration on their 8th floor presentation room that
281031 - has a large overhead screen so everybody can see what is accomplished
281032 - with SDS.
281034 -  ..
281035 - He expects this will occur in February.
281036 -
281037 -     [On 960105 met with Max Blodgett in San Francisco District, who
281038 -     reports to Jack, and demonstrated SDS. ref SDS 12 0001
281039 -
281040 -     [On 960913 contract to pilot test SDS for Com Metrics was awarded.
281041 -     ref SDS 18 0001
281042 -
281043 -
281044 -
281045 -
281046 -
281047 -
281048 -
281049 -
281050 -
281051 -
281052 -
281053 -
2811 -
Distribution. . . . See "CONTACTS"