THE WELCH COMPANY
440 Davis Court #1602
San Francisco, CA 94111-2496
415 781 5700
S U M M A R Y
DIARY: February 24, 1996 09:40 AM Saturday;
Rod Welch
Called Morris to confirm meeting 960227 on Asilomar outline.
1...Summary/Objective
2...Meeting on 960227
3...2nd Speaker - Lawyer, Discovery
.....Communication Manager Aligns Understanding
.....Automation Makes "Discovery" Cost Effective
.....Cognitive Science, Connectionist Theory
.....Psychologist Effort Ended
4...Tom Landauer's Scope
5...Event Agenda Lost on Information Highway
6...New World Order, A Sea of Unconnected Details
......Purpose of Asilomar Event
......Command & Control of the Record
......Human Memory is Transitory; Knowledge is Fragile
7...Event Planning/Scheduling
8...Executive Mind Set
9...Morris' Biography
..............
Click here to comment!
CONTACTS
0201 - Intel Corporation 408 765 8080 fax or 800...
020101 - Mr. David Vannier; Director of Mobile Architecture =408 765 4608
020102 - Mail Stop SC9-28
SUBJECTS
PMI Event Program, Planning
Jul Event, Speakers, Chips, Morris Jones, V.P., Founder
Brusman, Dr. Maynard
0605 - ..
0606 - Summary/Objective
0607 -
060701 - Follow up ref SDS 25 line 66, ref SDS 23 line 222.
060702 -
060703 - Advised Morris of discussions with Intel; Discussed and submitted via
060704 - ref DIT 2 line 30 the Asilomar agenda rev 07, and discussions with Tom
060705 - Landauer. Considered combining 4th and 5th speaker scope. Reviewed
060706 - recent ideas about making 2nd speaker a lawyer because legal discovery
060707 - is related to points in connectioninst theory we are considering.
060708 - Developed evidence that Information Highway impedes understanding and
060709 - follow up.
060710 -
060711 - [See follow up with Morris at ref SDS 28 line 88.]
060712 -
060713 - ..
060714 -
060715 - Submitted email to Intel via ref DIT 1 line 32 suggesting David call
060716 - us at Morris' office during his plane trip to Portland on 960227.
060717 -
060718 - [Follow up failed per meeting with Morris ref SDS 28 line 424.]
060719 -
060720 - Submitted ref DIT 3 line 30 to Morris to define executive mind set as
060721 - focused on discovering intentions, and developed need for
060722 - Communication Metrics to support this perspective through greater
060723 - command and control of the record.
060724 -
060725 - [Follow up failed per meeting with Morris ref SDS 28 line 578.]
060726 -
060727 -
060728 -
060729 - ..
0608 -
0609 -
0610 - Discussion
0611 - ..
0612 -
061201 - Meeting on 960227
061202 -
061203 - Advised that David cannot make the 960227 teleconference meeting
061204 - because he will be on a plane, ref SDS 25 line 120. Actually he may be
061205 - able to contribute in a conference call from the plane. If we are all
061206 - in Morris' office it is just a straight call.
061207 -
061208 - I submitted ref DIT 1 line 32 via internet to Dave that suggests this
061209 - approach, with copy to Morris and to Bill DeHart. However, the
061210 - internet message bounced back. I tried sending it to Joan so she can
061211 - advise Dave; but, it seemed that the program message saying it was
061212 - sent was itself too fast for that to really to have occcurred. So I
061213 - scheduled a task to call Joan on Monday to confirm the idea.
061214 -
061215 - [See follow up at ref SDS 29 line 98.]
061216 -
061217 -
061218 - ..
061219 - 2nd Speaker - Lawyer, Discovery
061220 -
061221 - Followed up our discussions the other day analysing the scope of the
061222 - 2nd speaker, ref SDS 20 line 66. Morris seemed to agree that a lawyer
061223 - could do the opening scope, per analysis at ref SDS 19 line 255.
061224 -
061225 - [See later where 2nd speaker was kept, and added lawyer, ref
061226 - SDS 25 line 83.]
061227 -
061228 -
061229 -
0613 -
SUBJECTS
Discovery, Strategic Resource,
Concurrent Discovery
Little Deviations in the Beginning
Information Highway is Pandora's Box
SDS Makes Communication Metrics Possible
1708 -
170801 - ..
170802 - "Discovery"
170803 - Communication Manager Aligns Understanding
170804 -
170805 - I asked about his view of using a lawyer or an "investigatory"
170806 - approach at the time decisions are made, that applies the legal
170807 - practice of "discovery" to daily management, slated for discussion
170808 - with Dave Bounchristiani at TMJ&B, ref SDS 26 0000.
170809 -
170810 - Morris said this is done for major matters like entering
170811 - contracts. Chips has had a lawyer review their documents and
170812 - possibly interview key people and submit an opinion on any
170813 - conflicts that may require adjustment.
170814 -
170815 - [On 960307 used ideas on "discovery" at ref SDS 32 4492, and
170816 - ref SDS 32 2231, and on 960311, ref SDS 33 8555.]
170817 - ..
170818 - This is a key aspect of Communication Metrics, where
170819 - automation makes it practical to scrutinize a wider range of
170820 - "communication" on a daily basis. It is a positive, proactive use
170821 - of legal "discovery" to avoid problems and disclose opportunities
170822 - that are otherwise overlooked in the daily bustle of management
170823 - activity. The Information Highway imposes a new, increased risk of
170824 - error which makes it cost effective to do more research or
170825 - discovery.
170826 -
170827 -
170828 - ..
170829 - Automation Makes "Discovery" Cost Effective
170830 -
170831 - Can we make it cost effective to discover little errors before
170832 - they take root and grow, as explained in the New World Order...
170833 - paper, postulated originally by Aristotle, now attributed to
170834 - Murphy's Law? Automation makes it less expensive and the growing
170835 - cost of error reduces the level of tolerance for error. Turner
170836 - Construction shows the methods used when there is low tolerance
170837 - for error, ref SDS 16 6930. Automation makes these methods more
170838 - accessible to others.
170839 -
170840 -
170841 - ..
170842 - Cognitive Science, Connectionist Theory
170843 -
170844 - I mentioned discussions with Tom Landauer, ref SDS 24 6633, who is
170845 - a professor of Cognitive Science, about doing the 2nd speaker
170846 - scope, because it seems the audience needs help in understanding
170847 - the connection between effective leadership and communications,
170848 - and between communications and information, and between
170849 - information and knowledge. We considered the reasons for
170850 - presenting connectionist theory at a professional development
170851 - event for project managers. I explained my sense that executives
170852 - and managers are aware there is a growing problem in the
170853 - management environment that needs fixing, but have been unable to
170854 - grasp that it is caused by the success of having achieved faster
170855 - flows of information through calls, email and constant meetings.
170856 -
170857 - [See later discussion with Morris on 960227, ref SDS 28 9402,
170858 - and analysis of hierarchy connections and time from 01, bits,
170859 - data to knowledge and wisdom on 960510. ref SDS 34 2222.]
170860 -
170861 - [On 980307 Andy Grove's book "Only the Paranoid Survive" see
170862 - value of copious notes and asking questions for better
170863 - management through discovery. ref SDS 37 3668]
170864 - ..
170865 - There is tremendous momentum from our cultural heritage that
170866 - is driving the market place in a frenzy to increase the amount of
170867 - information from conversation. Everyone is trying to improve
170868 - leadership by becoming better talkers. Connectionist theory says
170869 - this conversation must be connected up in order to convert the
170870 - information it generates into useful knowledge. An example is our
170871 - discussion today about Morris having seen the Asilomar Event
170872 - agenda (see below).
170873 -
170874 - ..
170875 - Psychologist Effort Ended
170876 -
170877 - Another manifestation is the hiring of psychologists to improve
170878 - communications by eliminating conflicts, as reported on 951101.
170879 - ref SDS 6 5500
170880 -
170881 - Morris said Chips has ended this effort.
170882 -
170883 -
170884 -
170885 -
1709 -
SUBJECTS
Other Solutions, Tools than SDS
Landauer, Tom -- Author
1905 -
190501 - ..
190502 - Tom Landauer's Scope
190503 -
190504 - I discussed with him doing the Tom Landauer scope on the "Trouble With
190505 - Computers," ref OF 3 line 41, for the reasons at ref SDS 22 line 123.
190506 - Morris seems open to this idea. We have talked a lot over the years
190507 - about the challenges of getting computers to help the management
190508 - process. Morris has tried the Wizard, SDS, Wizard, Newton and now
190509 - Echo Pro, ref SDS 10 line 605, see also ref SDS 6 line 236.
190510 -
190511 - [See follow up at ref SDS 28 line 301.]
190512 -
190513 - Since my discussion with Tom a few days ago ref SDS 24 line 66, I am
190514 - leaning toward trying to get him to do this part, but the cost and
190515 - management effort to get what is needed may ultimately augor for using
190516 - someone else, and Morris has the experience to accomplish this role.
190517 -
190518 -
190519 -
190520 -
1906 -
SUBJECTS
Conflict with Existing Methods, Executive Mind Set/Practice
Human Memory, Brain, Command & Control of the Record
Remembering (Linked Records - Traceability,
Information Highway is Pandora's Box
Not Enough Time to Understand
Drifting Off Course, Avoid
Mistakes of Information Overload Increase
Debug Management Memory Fails Bumbling Com Metrics Needed for Alignme
3011 -
301101 - ..
301102 - Event Agenda Lost on Information Highway
301103 - New World Order, A Sea of Unconnected Details
301104 -
301105 - Morris said he has not seen the agenda for the Asilomar Conference.
301106 -
301107 - Failure to rememeber seeing the agenda for the Asilomar Conference
301108 - conflicts with the record, reflecting Kissinger's concern reviewed on
301109 - 940609 about continual bumbling. ref SDS 2 4238 On 951103 Morris and
301110 - I discussed need for Communications Metrics, ref SDS 7 7777, which the
301111 - record today exemplifies. Other examples are reported in the record
301112 - on 950327. ref SDS 3 0200
301113 -
301114 - Doctor Tom Landaur asked for an example of the need for and use for
301115 - Communication Metrics in our call on 960221. ref SDS 24 5002
301116 - ..
301117 - The agenda was given to Morris when Bill and I met with Morris
301118 - at his office on 960103, ref SDS 14 0001, and confirmed via
301119 - ref DIP 1 0001 on 960108. ref SDS 15 4444
301120 -
301121 - I sent rev 03 of the agenda via ref DIP 2 0004, on 960203, ref SDS 17
301122 - 0001, which Morris indicated he received. ref SDS 17 G56I He later
301123 - used the agenda to prepare his letter, ref DRP 1 0001, which I
301124 - obtained on 960210. ref SDS 18 TE3G
301125 -
301126 - [On 960721 similar problem reviewing results of Asilomar
301127 - Conference. ref SDS 35 0096
301128 -
301129 -
301130 - ..
301131 - Purpose of Asilomar Event
301132 - Command & Control of the Record
301133 - Human Memory is Transitory; Knowledge is Fragile
301134 -
301135 - Morris' understanding of not having seen the Asilomar agenda, in
301136 - contrast to the record showing he has seen it, reflects a key
301137 - objective of the event for the 2nd speaker in explaining the New
301138 - World Order to empower managers to gain command and control of
301139 - the record, as an element of connectionist theory in cognitive
301140 - science, ref SDS 9 line 215. "What have we seen? What have we
301141 - heard? What did we say? What did we do? How can we get what we
301142 - need, and how does it relate to what we have done, to what we
301143 - want and are committed and intending to do?" These "connections"
301144 - are occurring constantly in the human mind, but in a faster paced
301145 - world the mind needs a boost, and a busy executive needs someone
301146 - to ensure the work is done to provide that boost. Thus, we can
301147 - configure automation to help the mind remember, but we likely
301148 - need a Communication Manager to ensure the automation is applied
301149 - so an executive has command and control of the record when it is
301150 - needed.
301151 -
301152 - [See later example at ref SDS 28 line 491, see also example at
301153 - ref SDS 31 line 56.]
301154 -
301155 - [See Asilomar results at ref SDS 35 line 254 and ref SDS 35
301156 - line 315.]
301157 -
301158 - ..
301159 - I read the Agenda and Morris seemed to feel comfortable with it.
301160 -
301161 -
301162 -
301163 - ..
301164 - Event Planning/Scheduling
301165 -
301166 - Morris has a number of ideas on event developement tasks that could be
301167 - helpful. We should try to get these set out in a more careful way.
301168 -
301169 - Possibly we can spend some time on this when we meet on Tuesday, but
301170 - we do not want to
301171 -
301172 -
301173 -
301174 -
3012 -
3013 -
SUBJECTS
Executive Mindset, Need Communication
Feel Good Management v. SDS
Computers not used for management
Communication Manager (Para Manager)
Executive Support
Conflict with Existing Methods, Executive Mind Set/Practice
Communication Manager (Para Manager)
3910 - 1840 called Morris back
3911 -
391101 - ..
391102 - Executive Mind Set
391103 -
391104 - Morris was able to retrieve my letter ref DIT 2 line 33, transmitting
391105 - this record, the current agenda ref OF 3 line 17, and discussions with
391106 - Tom Landauer, ref SDS 24 line 66.
391107 -
391108 - I asked him to review the record ref DIT 2 line 33, and comment on my
391109 - understandings, plus set out his ideas on planning Asilomar. My
391110 - intent was to help Morris shape his ideas on supporting the Asilomar
391111 - conference by providing a foundation of our thinking and related work
391112 - with Tom Landauer, since we are considering that Morris do Tom's
391113 - scope.
391114 - ..
391115 - Morris said he will try to get to this some time, seemingly
391116 - dismissing the opportunity to improve his ability to contribute. His
391117 - tone indicated the suggestion for him to review ref DIT 2 line 30 was
391118 - not well received. He seemed to reject out of hand reviewing and
391119 - commenting on the record as a way to accomplish his objective to
391120 - support the Asilomar conference.
391121 -
391122 - [See follow up at ref SDS 28 line 915, ref SDS 28 line 999.]
391123 - ..
391124 - Rejection of careful analyses of the record on issues which
391125 - earlier he seemed fully engaged in considering, per ref SDS 0 7219,
391126 - suggests a preference for conversation rather than analysis to
391127 - integrate new information with past understandings (see earlier
391128 - discussion at Stanford on failure of managers to perform adequate
391129 - analysis, ref SDS 1 1716). We want to try to make this point at
391130 - Asilomar with Dave Bounchristiani's presentation on Concurrent
391131 - Discovery. ref SDS 19 9562
391132 -
391133 - The seemingly abrupt change in attitude may reflect a generic
391134 - orientation of an executive who is accustomed to managing through
391135 - conversation, i.e., speech, feeling disoriented by a suggestion to
391136 - review and comment on the record, ref OF 1 line 650.
391137 -
391138 - [Morris described this later as wanting to get information by
391139 - conversation and expecting it to be supported in the documented
391140 - record, ref SDS 28 line 918. This relates to the executive role
391141 - to "manage managers" cited by Peter Drucker, discussed on 960301.
391142 - ref SDS 30 5760
391143 -
391144 - [See results from Asilomar Conference ref SDS 35 line 410.]
391145 - ..
391146 - Morris has been an executive for many years at Chips, and
391147 - apparently has recently been elevated to senior executive status,
391148 - possibly one position removed from president of his firm.
391149 -
391150 - I tried this evening through a second email ref DIT 3 0001, to
391151 - fashion an explanation of the executive mind set fostered by constant
391152 - exposure to the responsibilities and insulation of organizational
391153 - hirarchy. This may be extrapolating too much from a single
391154 - conversation, though there have been several occassions in the past
391155 - year or so where this reaction has occurred, see for example, ref SDS
391156 - 5 line 140.
391157 -
391158 - This evening, I took a stab at describing the impact of authority on
391159 - the executive perspective via ref DIT 3 line 43.
391160 -
391161 -
391162 - [Discussed this with Morris when we met the following week at ref
391163 - SDS 26 line 367.]
391164 -
391165 -
391166 -
391167 -
3912 -
SUBJECTS
Speakers
Biography
4105 -
410501 - ..
410502 - Morris' Biography
410503 -
410504 - Follow up ref SDS 23 line 241.
410505 -
410506 - He said his secretary can submit his official bio on Monday. Actually,
410507 - we can just pick it up at the meeting on 960227. I modified the
410508 - agenda for the 960227 meeting to include getting his biography.
410509 -
410510 - [On 960227 followed up. ref SDS 28 6883.]
410511 -
410512 -
4106 -
SUBJECTS
Internet support
4304 -
430401 - I explained having sent ref DIP 4 line 37 at ref SDS 25 line 176, with
430402 - a cc to Morris. I also sent the same message to me and it is
430403 - unreadable.
430404 -
430405 - The internet seems to stripping out the Medit carriage return and
430406 - line feeds. The local screen maintains them, but they are stripped
430407 - when sent to others.
430408 -
430409 - Morris will try to work on this later today.
430410 -
430411 -
430412 -
430413 -
430414 -
430415 -
430416 -
430417 -
430418 -
430419 -
430420 -
430421 -
430422 -
430423 -
430424 -
Distribution. . . . See "CONTACTS"