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: March 8, 1996 03:19 PM Friday; Rod Welch

Received brochure from Dialogos on executive training.

1...Summary/Objective
.....These terms focus on interpersonnel conversation skills, as
.....No "Metrics" to Avoid False Knowledge
2...Productive Dialogue
3...Being Prepared is Not Cited as Part of Leadership
.....Conversation Is Fast and Easy
.........Reading and Writing Omitted from Executive Skills
.........Learning is Key Executive Skill
.....Feel Good Management
.....Listening Alone Does Not Yield Understanding, Learning, Leading
4...Process of Deep Inquiry?


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

SUBJECTS
SDS Marketing, Application, Leadership Communications
Reengineering Communications, Executive Mind set
Communications & Communication Metrics Teamwork, Executive Work Pra  ices
Meetings, Facilitator; Listening Feel Good Management - Social Constrai  s
Talking & Listening Inadequate Reading and Writing, Not Enough Time
Dialog, Listening Maintain Shared Meaning Email, Meetings
Prepared, Nobody Has Time on Information
Education Communication Teaches Dialog Conversation Speaking Skills f

2810 -
2810 -    ..
2811 - Summary/Objective
2812 -
281201 - Follow up ref SDS 33 0000, ref SDS 32 0000.
281202 -
281203 - This brochure reflects popular training for executive effectiveness
281204 - through stronger dialog and listening skills, under the executive
281205 - mindset to lead by conversation and avoid reading and writing cited on
281206 - 960227, ref SDS 31 2004, reviewed previously from 1990 Asilomar event,
281207 - ref SDS 1 6678, with Axiom ref SDS 8 4392,
281208 -
281209 -     [On 960321 WSJ article says "listening" improves management and
281210 -     meetings. ref SDS 35 0400]
281212 -      ..
281213 -     [On 991123 SkillPath teaches verbal skills for communication.
281214 -     ref SDS 37 1989]
281215 -
281216 -
281217 -
281219 -  ..
2813 -
2814 -
2815 - Progress                             408 438 8350
2816 -
281601 - Received the Dialogos brochure ref DRT 1 line 19, from Cindy following
281602 - up our telecon at ref SDS 33 line 74.
281603 -     ..
281604 -     The brochure offers what seem to be dictionary definitions
281605 -     for the following words:
281606 -
281607 -             Dialogue
281608 -             Culture
281609 -             Discussion
281610 -             Listen
281611 -             Participate
281613 -  ..
281614 -
281615 -     These terms focus on interpersonnel conversation skills, as
281616 -     implied by the firm name: Dialogos, in order to improve
281617 -     communications and leadership, similar to approach of Axiom on
281618 -     950411, ref SDS 8 7730.
281619 -
281620 - The brochure explains "dialogue" as:
281621 -
281622 -         ... a discipline for communication and shared thinking
281623 -         designed to harness the collective intelligence of groups of
281624 -         people.
281626 -      ..
281627 -     This reflects the ideas presented at the 1990 Asilomar conference
281628 -     on planning theater. ref SDS 1 8409 and ref SDS 1 2299
281629 -     ..
281630 -     There is no evident treatment of weaknesses in reliance on
281631 -     dialogue, set out at the Asilomar Conference, ref SDS 1 2299.
281632 -
281634 -      ..
281635 -     No "Metrics" to Avoid False Knowledge
281636 -
281637 -     There is no treatment of "metrics" and the induction factor that
281638 -     causes misunderstanding, miss-communication, error, Murphy's Law,
281639 -     set out in NWO ... paper ref OF 2 line 480, ref OF 2 line 595,
281640 -     [discussed at ref SDS 34 0990.]
281641 -
281643 -  ..
281644 - Productive Dialogue
281645 -
281646 - The brochure indicates Dialogos can provide training and support to
281647 - make meetings productive, ref DRT 1 line 37.  One dimension of this is
281648 - better verbal and listening skills.  This is a key attribute of strong
281649 - leadership.  Talking people into things, and grasping what others have
281650 - in mind.
281651 -
281652 -     [See PMI event where getting people to say "yes" is goal of
281653 -     leadership, ref SDS 36 3095, but that executives do not have
281654 -     enough time to "think." ref SDS 36 3479]
281655 -
281657 -  ..
281658 - Being Prepared is Not Cited as Part of Leadership
281659 -
281660 - There is nothing in the Dialogos document about the role of being
281661 - prepared to make meetings productive, cited in the recent AP article
281662 - as the primary cause of wasted time in meetings, ref SDS 22 5902.
281663 -
281664 - I cannot find the following words in the Dialogos brochure:
281665 -
281666 -        prepare
281667 -        plan
281668 -        research
281669 -        investigate
281670 -        analysis
281671 -        intelligence
281672 -        read
281673 -        write
281674 -        record
281675 -        report
281676 -        accurate
281677 -        confirm
281678 -        verify
281679 -        document
281680 -        follow up
281681 -        understanding
281682 -           ..
281683 -           "Understanding" actually appears once at the end of
281684 -           the brochure to explain services of a Dialogos associate on
281685 -           work and family.
281686 -
281688 -      ..
281689 -     Conversation Is Fast and Easy
281690 -
281691 -     How can a meeting be "productive" without preparing, research,
281692 -     investigating, reading, writing, understanding, verify, follow up?
281693 -
281695 -          ..
281696 -         Reading and Writing Omitted from Executive Skills
281697 -
281698 -         It appears that the primary knowledge tool of western
281699 -         civilization, reading and writing, is not an element of
281700 -         executive training, reflected by the executive mindset see for
281701 -         example ref SDS 31 2004, and from firms who do executive
281702 -         training, like Axiom, per ref SDS 8 4392.
281703 -
281705 -          ..
281706 -         Learning is Key Executive Skill
281707 -
281708 -         This firm, Dialogos, seeks to accomplish the objective of
281709 -         enabling executives to accomplish "continual learning" as
281710 -         described in the article at ref SDS 7 3381, per review of
281711 -         Drucker, e.g., ref SDS 4 5820, and on "analysis," ref SDS 5
281712 -         7911, by developing "good listening" and possibly "group
281713 -         think" methods, rather than using the Covey idea of sharpening
281714 -         the saw by keeping a daily journal, ref SDS 3 1121, similar to
281715 -         Welch Management Method, ref SDS 2 4930.
281716 -
281718 -      ..
281719 -     Feel Good Management
281720 -     Listening Alone Does Not Yield Understanding, Learning, Leading
281721 -
281722 -     What is being produced at meetings where dialogue and listening
281723 -     are the objectives?
281724 -
281725 -         The aim appears to be to make people feel comfortable about
281726 -         working together, i.e., participating, as reflected by the
281727 -         placement of the definitions of "dialogue" and "listening" at
281728 -         the top of the brochure.
281729 -
281730 -         "Feel Good Management" was originally considered at ref SDS 2
281731 -         1331, at ref SDS 11 8853.
281732 -
281733 -         "Listening" was reviewed under Covey at ref SDS 3 5903, and
281734 -         later at ref SDS 6 4485.
281735 -     ..
281736 -     How does this help the customer?
281738 -      ..
281739 -     Can this be related to "reengineering"?
281740 -
281741 -
281743 -  ..
281744 - Process of Deep Inquiry?
281745 -
281746 - Dialogos contends dialogue is a process of deep inquiry, ref DRT 1
281747 - line 38, but there is nothing presented on how this occurs.  "Deep"
281748 - suggests going beyond how we feel at the moment, to evaluate what is
281749 - said today, with prior representations, other ("original") sources,
281750 - like a contract, a magazine article, a letter, a phone call.  The
281751 - brochure does not indicate how such depth is accomplished by the
281752 - Dialogos process.
281754 -  ..
281755 - Dialogos' approach seems similar to ideas Bob Gillis' presented at
281756 - Asilomar in 1990 on Management Communications discussing "shared
281757 - visual memory" from planning theater methods, ref SDS 1 8409 and at
281758 - ref SDS 1 2299, which he recently characterized as "collaborative
281759 - brain power" per ref SDS 9 6883.
281760 - ..
281761 - There is nothing apparent in the brochure on how shared meaning
281762 - is maintained and integrated into the work flow, i.e., how is the
281763 - stuff followed up?
281764 -
281766 -  ..
281767 - The Dialogos brochure offers similar sounding solutions to those
281768 - offered by Communication Metrics.
281769 -
281770 -     The brochure indicates the importance of making "connections" but
281771 -     does not set out what needs to be connected, how to do it, nor who
281772 -     performs the work, ref DRT 1 line 44.
281773 -
281774 -         There are vague references to "experience" as a key part of
281775 -         human interaction which is "fragmented" and that "connecting"
281776 -         our experience can be helpful?  There is no explanation of
281777 -         what this means, where the connections are created, or how to
281778 -         use them, extend them.  Does it reflect Stephen Covey's idea
281779 -         to "sharpen the saw?"
281780 -         ..
281781 -         Examples are given of organizations that are
281782 -         "fragmented" into marketing and engineering, and by geography,
281783 -         and that connecting the fragments means paying attention to
281784 -         the nature of the whole not only to the parts, ref DRT 1 line
281785 -         55.
281786 -
281787 -            Presumably Dialogos aim is be paid to explain what this
281788 -            means and how it helps people.  At this remove it is an
281789 -            open question.
281790 -
281791 -
281792 -
281793 -
281794 -
2818 -