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


S U M M A R Y


DIARY: March 13, 1996 11:30 AM Wednesday; Rod Welch

Visited Denis at Kwan Henmi re ALRS project, PMI sponsorship.

1...Summary/Objective
2...KH is Improving Internal Communications
3...Human Mind Induces Meaning
4...Induced Meaning from Conversation Harms Communications
5...Communication Metrics Discovers Errors from Induced Meaning
6...There isn't Enough Time to Read and Write
7...Executive Skills Implode on Information Highway
8...Accounting Analogy
9...Communication Managers are Needed Because
10...Consistent use of Sound Management Practice is No Fun
11...New Ideas are Challenging,
12...ALRS 2 - 4 Months Away
13...SFIA Needs Communication Metrics
14...Denis will Arrange a Meeting with SFIA and Welch
15...SDS Support at KH for Denis


..............
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CONTACTS 
0201 - Kwan Henmi Arch & Planng           415 777 4770 fax 5102
020101 - Mr. Denis Henmi; Executive Vice President

SUBJECTS
Financial, Visibility & Credibility
Psychologists, Communication Specialists
Management productivity
Meetings Unproductive
Psychologists Improving Communications
Communication Main Factor Management Productivity Success 90% of Time

1608 -    ..
1609 - Summary/Objective
1610 -
161001 - Follow up ref SDS 18 00001, ref SDS 13 0000.
161002 -
161003 - Denis cannot offer financial support, but appreciates the aims of
161004 - Asilomar and might attend with some KH people.  He has hired a
161005 - consultant to improve communications, and so has focused on this issue
161006 - lately.
161007 -
161008 - Submitted ref DIT 1 0000 confirming idea to meet with SFIA, included
161009 - notes of meeting with Morris on improving communications. ref SDS 5
161010 - 0000, the new Asilomar agenda, ref OF 2 0000, and the letter to Hank
161011 - Hatch.
161012 -
161013 -     [See follow up at ref SDS 26 0000.]
161014 -
161015 -
161016 -  ..
1611 -
1612 -
1613 - Discussion
1614 -
161401 -  ..
161402 - KH is Improving Internal Communications
161403 -
161404 - During lunch we reviewed the letter inviting Denis to contribute and
161405 - support the Asilomar conference, ref DIP 1 line 30 issued on 960228.
161406 - ref SDS 16 2203  Denis said Kwan Henmi cannot contribute to speaker
161407 - fees because they have no budget for it, but might like to send a
161408 - contingent of KH project managers to attend the event.
161409 - ..
161410 - He feels recent experience within KH shows the need for better
161411 - communications. They have hired a management consultant with
161412 - psychologist expertise on interpersonal dialog, listening and team
161413 - meetings, similar to the services of Dialogos reviewed at ref SDS 20
161414 - line 104, to make meetings more productive, per AP article reporting
161415 - managers wasting 70% of the day, at ref SDS 11 line 88, and per ideas
161416 - being used by other organizations, ref SDS 6 line 140.
161417 -
161418 -     [On 980213 Denis replied via email offering to contribute to
161419 -     Asilomar based on his firm having been recognized as a well
161420 -     managed firm. ref SDS 33 3405]
161421 -
161422 -
161423 -
161424 -
1615 -

SUBJECTS
Induction
Talking & Listening Inadequate
False Knowledge
Dialogue Inadequate
Communications Failing on Information
Meaning Drift Avodded by Audit Trail Original Sources

2409 -
240901 -  ..
240902 - Human Mind Induces Meaning
240903 -
240904 - We talked a bit about the article in Newsweek, Feb 19, 1996 p. 55, on
240905 - reading to very young children so the human mind can "grow," ref SDS
240906 - 12 line 116, and the work of Dr. Thomas K. Landauer, who will speak at
240907 - Asilomar, showing the mind's ability to expand information by inducing
240908 - meaning enables young children to learn far more language than they
240909 - are directly taught, ref SDS 17 line 156.  Denis related how his son,
240910 - Drew, began using "inconceivable" (??) from conversation between Denis
240911 - and Syliva at home.  Drew's teacher remarked at a parent/teacher event
240912 - about his achievement in grasping a complex concept for a 7 year old.
240913 - Denis said he has also found that reading SDS records can induce
240914 - sleep.  I've found writing them can do the same, showing significant
240915 - versatility.
240916 -
240917 -
240918 -  ..
240919 - Induced Meaning from Conversation Harms Communications
240920 -
240921 - We considered how the mind's natural, automatic ability with language,
240922 - which began to be explained scientifically in the 60's, leads to a
240923 - belief that better conversation skills improve "communication" ref SDS
240924 - 6 line 144.  The "common sense" belief that more conversation improves
240925 - communications fueled self-improvement movements during the 70's and
240926 - 80's (e.g., LST, EST, Forum) that made "paradigm" a popular buzz word,
240927 - and exploded in a frenzy of "talk" shows on radio and television in
240928 - the 90's.  These efforts will be reviewed at the Asilomar Conference
240929 - by Dr. Brusman in exploring why the dictum "talk is cheap" ref SDS 2
240930 - line 395, means the ancient plea of the Pharaoh to his Scribe "Don't
240931 - say it, write it" is the wiser course, especially in the modern era of
240932 - the Information Highway.  Dr. Landauer will explain at Asilomar that
240933 - the strength of the human mind to induce meaning, which is vital for
240934 - children, ref OF 2 line 46, actually harms managers by masking
240935 - miss-communication at the time conversation occurs, e.g., meetings,
240936 - calls.  Denis said he has noticed from time to time that someone in
240937 - the office has inferred meaning from his remarks that was not
240938 - intended.  Dr. Landauer will explain this occurs often but goes
240939 - unnoticed, causing miss-communication, trauma, errors, losses,
240940 - disputes.
240941 -
240942 -     [See analysis of Landauer's finding of "meaning drift" ref SDS 27
240943 -     line 323.]
240944 -
240945 -
240946 -
2410 -

SUBJECTS
Cost/Benefit, Fear, Faith
Reading and Writing, Not Enough Time
Communication Metrics Discovers and Fixes
Time - Too Busy Being Busy
Not Enough Time to Understand

2908 -
290801 -  ..
290802 - Communication Metrics Discovers Errors from Induced Meaning
290803 -
290804 - Communication Metrics uses reading and writing combined with automated
290805 - tools to discover errors in understanding evidenced from lack of
290806 - alignment in communication, and fix them before harm is caused that
290807 - requires a psychologist or a lawyer or firing people to save the
290808 - organization, called "reengineering" (see CNN report on 951115 re IBM,
290809 - PG&E, AT&T, ref SDS 8 8834).  Automated integration of time,
290810 - information, meaning and linking are the secret ingredients.  But
290811 - nobody knows what this means because it only exists in SDS and only 3
290812 - or 4 people in the world have experienced it. How can we widen the
290813 - experience in a sea of ignorance, fear and denial, reinforced by a
290814 - market offering the easy solution of more conversation? ref SDS 20
290815 - 5009.
290816 -
290817 -
290818 -  ..
290819 - There isn't Enough Time to Read and Write
290820 - Executive Skills Implode on Information Highway
290821 -
290822 - Asilomar will show how to get more reading and writing at a time when
290823 - there is less and less time to think, much less to read and write.  We
290824 - considered briefly the irony from my discussion with Morris last night
290825 - on the implosion of executive management practice caused by the faster
290826 - pace of life that leads people away from the fundamentals of knowledge
290827 - work:  reading and writing, ref SDS 21 4882.  Denis feels finding the
290828 - time to read is a major challenge in his practice.  I mentioned this
290829 - issue in a letter to General Hatch last night submitting the current
290830 - Asilomar agenda, ref SDS 22 7409, since he seemed to grasp the
290831 - significance of Communication Metrics in converting information into
290832 - knowledge, ref SDS 10 4884.
290833 -
290834 -
290835 -
290836 -
2909 -

SUBJECTS
Accounting Analogy
Cost/Benefit, Fear, Faith
Reading and Writing, Not Enough Time
Difficult to Explain SDS/POIMS
Educating Committee on Communication
Reading and Writing, Not Enough Time

3509 -
350901 -  ..
350902 - Accounting Analogy
350903 - Communication Managers are Needed Because
350904 - Consistent use of Sound Management Practice is No Fun
350905 -
350906 - Denis said they have a new accountant who is very good at holding the
350907 - firm to sound financial practices.  Day to day the effort can seem
350908 - picky and overkill, as seen by Tudor evaluating the SDS program on
350909 - 890324. ref SDS 1 6894
350910 -
350911 - Denis related experience at Kwan Henmi has shown that following daily
350912 - impulse to spend money on things that seem worthwhile, but exceed
350913 - established budgets, inevitably leads to drifting off course into
350914 - financial difficulty.
350915 -
350916 - Denis noted that Communication Metrics applies similar rigor to ensure
350917 - sound management, reflecting Drucker's explanation that accounting is
350918 - a powerful information technology for management, reviewed on 931130.
350919 - ref SDS 3 6Y4J
350920 - ..
350921 - At any given moment it is not clear why it is important to
350922 - capture and link up understandings. Thousands of years of culture
350923 - evolved strong traditions for the accountant not to accept being even
350924 - a penny out of alingnment, because it may reflect larger deviations
350925 - that are not apparent but later have a big impact on earnings.
350926 -
350927 -      [On 970830 review of Max Wideman's report, ref SDS 31 3017.]
350928 -
350929 -      [See Drucker explaining accounting as oldest "information
350930 -      system," ref SDS 32 1368]
350931 -
350932 - Communication is a step removed from finances, so the benefits of
350933 - taking the time to create and follow an audit trail that ensures
350934 - accurate understanding are less apparent than can be seen from the
350935 - same exercise applied to the accountant's ledger.  There is no culture
350936 - to check the record before a meeting, or after a phone call to find
350937 - deviations, as the accountant does in cross-checking the figures with
350938 - double entry methods.  The idea of a Communication Manager writing
350939 - things down and linking it up seems unnecessary and harmful to good
350940 - working relations.  We joked about a new service for married couples.
350941 -
350942 - Situations like the SFIA projects drifting off course, however, (see
350943 - below at ref SDS 0 9943) offer a clearer picture of why better
350944 - communication requires "metrics" and how, like the careful accountant,
350945 - this is an essential investment to improve earnings, per meeting with
350946 - Dave Buoncristiani at TMJ&B on 960307, last week, ref SDS 19 1594 and
350947 - ref SDS 19 9555.
350948 -
350949 - Growing difficulties with internal office communications likewise
350950 - suggest something more than effective dialog is needed to meet the
350951 - demands of the Information Highway, see for example the record on
350952 - 951101. ref SDS 5 5500 and on 951103. ref SDS 6 4355
350953 -
350954 -      [On 960326 discussed this idea with Intel. ref SDS 23 3420]
350955 -
350956 -      [On 960620 developed idea in paper dialog, documents and human
350957 -      memory, ref SDS 28 3740]
350958 -
350959 -
350960 -  ..
350961 - New Ideas are Challenging,
350962 -
350963 - Denis feels Communication Metrics is helpful but difficult to explain.
350964 -
350965 - This has been a hurdle planning the Asilomar Conference.
350966 -
350967 - The analogy to accounting, to cost and schedule engineers, is hard to
350968 - grasp for those who have no experience with SDS.  Asilomar is intended
350969 - to explain Communication Metrics by assembling a body of "experts" to
350970 - review the ideas in the New World Order paper. ref OF 4 33CE and,
350971 - ref OF 4 34EB and further at ref OF 4 29G5
350972 -
350973 - Nobody on the PMI committee wants to read the paper; they want Bill to
350974 - explain it.  Since Communication Metrics is new and, like double-entry
350975 - bookkeeping, is counter-intuitive because it takes more time, it is
350976 - hard to explain why people should plan a conference to explain
350977 - Communication Metrics.  Bill is meeting today with Sherrill McDonald,
350978 - recently retired exec with Kaiser Engineers, to try to finalize the
350979 - agenda, and then they are meeting with Morris Jones, one of our
350980 - speakers, on Friday to further finalize the agenda.
350981 -
350982 - Resistance to change is strong, but strong ideas eventually prevail
350983 - with persistence and luck.
350984 -
350985 -
350986 -
350987 -
350988 -
3510 -

SUBJECTS
ALRS Project, KH, Welch Scope with KH
Kwan Henmi, General

3905 -
390501 - Followed up work at ref SDS 18 line 82, and ref SDS 9 line 59.
390502 -
390503 -
390504 -  ..
390505 - ALRS 2 - 4 Months Away
390506 -
390507 - He thinks their ALRS assignment may take another 2 - 4 months before
390508 - scope and contract price are finalized.
390509 -
390510 -
390511 -  ..
390512 - SFIA Needs Communication Metrics
390513 -
390514 - Denis mentioned possible need by SFIA for Communication Metrics.
390515 -
390516 - He said they are holding joint meetings for multiple projects that are
390517 - interrelated.  These meetings are very complex for the reasons we
390518 - discussed in November, ref SDS 7 0085, and so they need a way to
390519 - integrate, align and follow up understandings, i.e., accomplish
390520 - Communication Metrics.
390521 -
390522 - I explained contacts with Gene Bordegaray last year. At that time SFIA
390523 - determined they did not need help. ref SDS 4.  Recent experience may
390524 - offer grounds for further consideration.
390525 -
390526 -      [On 960405 Turner reported problems with SFIA management, per
390527 -      record at ref SDS 24 7461.]
390528 -
390529 -      [On 960911 SFIA management team fired, ref SDS 29 9043.]
390530 -
390531 -      [On 970624 USACE decided they did not need Communication Metrics,
390532 -      against recommendations of counsel. ref SDS 30 7388]
390533 -
390534 -      [On 981027 USACE paid $30M extra to complete a $43M project....
390535 -      ref SDS 34 9152]
390536 -
390537 - Denis drew a sketch showing the airport with several projects under
390538 - construction, and showed how his project will intersect them, plus the
390539 - BART connection.  He noted that projects underway seem to be in
390540 - trouble for the reasons we anticipated last year, ref SDS 9 4693.
390541 -
390542 - The impact of complex communications causes misunderstandings, extra
390543 - cost and delays in the work.  This may be causing extended contract
390544 - negotiations on Denis' project.
390545 -
390546 -  ..
390547 - Denis will Arrange a Meeting with SFIA and Welch
390548 -
390549 - I suggested Denis arrange a meeting to introduce me to SFIA management
390550 - responsible for getting things done, so I can explain and demonstrate
390551 - the SDS method.
390552 -
390553 -     [On 960424 talked to Denis. ref SDS 25 0000 and Turner's
390554 -     problems. ref SDS 25 9940]
390555 -
390556 -     [On 960424 Denis plans to schedule a meeting at SFIA. ref SDS 25
390557 -     NB3N
390558 -
390559 -     [On 960911 SFIA management team fired, ref SDS 29 9043]
390560 -
390561 -  ..
390562 - SDS Support at KH for Denis
390563 -
390564 - I suggested Denis interview Kathleen to provide SDS support for him.
390565 - With all he is doing, rapid expansion (e.g., Oakland office for the
390566 - airport program), he needs this support.  It is unclear how helpful
390567 - this role would be, but we need to find out how much can be done and
390568 - what needs to be done to make SDS work better for an executive like
390569 - Denis.  General Hatch is coming to Asilomar to encourage prudent steps
390570 - to discover how to use Communication Metrics.  The most productive
390571 - force in an organization is the top management; that is the place SDS
390572 - does the most good.  Denis has seen this in suggesting Communication
390573 - Metrics be used by the SFIA folks.
390574 -
390575 -
390576 -
3906 -
Distribution. . . . See "CONTACTS"