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: July 15, 1996 08:51 AM Monday;
Rod Welch
PMI Asilomar Conference Leadership Technology Partnership for the Future.
1...Summary/Objective
2...Information Highway Needs Better Technology to Empower Leadership
3...Lois Zells Showed Need for Better Speaker Coordination
4...Pete Offringa Defined Leadership; Need Link to PMBOK, Technology
5...Ballon Presented Covey's Ideas on Management Practices
6...Wink & Bea Offered Good Ideas, But Not on Conference Topic
7...Turner Presented Construction Practices, Future Ideas
8...Buoncristiani Synthesized Ideas; Omitted Concurrent Discovery
9...Dave Vannier Gave a Professional Presentation for Intel
.....Power of Microcosm Empowers Leaders to Control Complexity
.....Improve Impressions with Facts; Linking Summary to Details
.....Paperless Office: Still a Dream in the Mainstream
.....Reality of New Technology: Reduced Management Productivity
.........Automated Notebook: Ignored, Feared and Denied
.........Automated Management, Can We Define It?
.........Emperor Wore No Cloths; and, Cloths with no Emperor
.....Voice Recognition Empowers Leaders with Communication Metrics
10...Morris Was Very Effective on Obstacles to Leadership
.....Information Highway Has Reduced Management Productivity
11...Panel Discussion Did Not Address Asilomar Theme
12...Ambassadors of Change: No Leadership Moving the Ball Forward
13...Omission of Brusman and Landauer Impacted Conference
14...Conference Theme Was Not Addressed by Speakers
......Theme Was Too Broad/Complex
......Reengineering to Fit Vision of Leadership
15...Coordination on Speaker Scope Needed
16...Feel Good Management Prevailed over PMBOK
17...Leadership of Difficult Objectives Needs Motivational Factors
18...Attendance Was Below Targets
19...Papers to Support Use of Conference Ideas Did Not Meet Goals
20...Audio Visual Equipment for Computer Presentations
21...Accomplishments
.....PMI was given an opportunity to be an important voice in forging a
.....Concurrent Discovery was formed to provide an intellectual bridge
....."Knowledge Space" analogous to "dimensional space" was defined to
....."Be Prepared" emerged as a key factor of leadership, ref SDS 34
.....Paradigm shift from "documents" to "automated knowledge
.....Executive Mindset emerged as a key obstacle to leadership, which
.....An executive reported technology cannot support leadership, and it
....."More information harms understanding" was presented by Intel's
.....Group exercises were developed showing "understanding" is
.....There is no evident awareness of "leadership" to align people
.....Consistent use of PMBOK practices causes anger, fear, frustration
.....A.psychological buffer analogous to a caching system in computer
.....Leaders do not have enough time on the Information Highway
.....Leaders refuse to perform PMBOK duty to align themselves and team
.....Leadership with broader vision was formed to overcome obstacles of
.....We found that some computer projectors work better than
22...Follow Up
.....Bill spoke to Jim Pennypecker about an article on the event. Jim
.....Bill requested assessment reports from Ahmet and from Sherrill.
.....We considered requesting assessment from the speakers on the
.....Some speakers might be asked to present their solutions at PMI's
.....Future events could present solutions to the problems disclosed at
.....Need results of post-event attendee surveys.
..............
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CONTACTS
SUBJECTS
PMI, Asilomar, 960712 - 14
Asilomar Conference Evaluation, Welch
0604 -
0604 - ..
0605 - Summary/Objective
0606 -
060601 - Follow up ref SDS 65 0000, ref SDS 64 0000.
060602 -
060603 - Conference showed Information Highway needs better use of technology
060604 - to support leadership. There were ideas presented on forging a better
060605 - partnership between leadership and technology. ref SDS 0 5621
060606 - Miscommunication on scheduling speakers did not harm the Conference.
060607 - More preparation to assist speakers, using PMBOK practices, and
060608 - advertising to increase revenue through increased attendance can
060609 - improve future Events by hiring the right mix of specialists for
060610 - presenting the problem of communication in a way that leads to
060611 - solutions and action. Intel at least identified the scope of the
060612 - problem. ref SDS 0 5849 Solutions will have to await future events.
060613 - ref SDS 0 1552
060614 -
060615 - [See Bill's follow up comments at ref SDS 70 0000.]
060617 - ..
060618 - [On 970612 submitted article "Asilomar Redux" a year later to
060619 - review unfinished agenda. ref SDS 84 0001
060620 -
060621 -
060623 - ..
0607 -
0608 -
0609 - Discussion
061001 - ..
061002 - Information Highway Needs Better Technology to Empower Leadership
061003 -
061004 - Bill feels the Conference met some of the objectives for...
061005 -
061006 - Leadership and Technology, Partnership for the Future
061008 - ..
061009 - The challenge posed by the Information Highway was presented that
061010 - reduces effectiveness for communication and leadership, but there were
061011 - no solutions offered, per objective set in May 1995, see record
061012 - ref SDS 5 5830 and later on 960307. ref SDS 32 4492
061014 - ..
061015 - He said some people asked why I did not attend the Conference.
061016 -
061017 -
061019 - ..
061020 - Lois Zells Showed Need for Better Speaker Coordination
061021 -
061022 - Bill said Lois Zells gave a good presentation that seemed to reflect
061023 - her marketing approach more than the Event theme, per understandings
061024 - at ref SDS 31 line 213, ref SDS 49 line 196.
061025 -
061026 - [Confirmed by discussion with Morris at ref SDS 69 line 389.]
061028 - ..
061029 - She seems to have indicated at the Conference that:
061030 -
061031 - She has gotten 4 or 5 firms to adopt Project Management since
061032 - 1990 but none have continued the effort.
061033 -
061034 - This reflects Morris' concerns expressed on 950705, ref SDS 11
061035 - line 298. It is unclear whether Morris cited experience at
061036 - Chips on this point, during the panel discussion.
061038 - ..
061039 - The best CPM computer program is a DOS application, rather the
061040 - more recent Window programs from MS and Primavera. The DOS
061041 - programs have better resource leveling algorithms, ref SDS 69
061042 - line 685.
061044 - ..
061045 - This position reflects Morris' earlier observation that for
061046 - management support a plain text editor has advantages over
061047 - wordprocessing, ref SDS 21 line 219.
061048 -
061049 -
061051 - ..
061052 - The "Struggles" presentation ref DRP 1 line 60, was a skit of some
061053 - kind done with his daughter to provide entertainment. Bill noted it
061054 - was effective in some respects. David Buoncristiani commented the
061055 - next day during his presentation that these folks should not give up
061056 - their day jobs.
061057 -
061058 - [See discussion with Dave at ref SDS 66 line 89; later report from
061059 - Ahmet Taspinar on "Rubbles" family presentation, shows possible
061060 - miss-spelling somewhere, ref SDS 82 line 488.]
061061 -
061063 - ..
061064 - Pete Offringa Defined Leadership; Need Link to PMBOK, Technology
061065 -
061066 - Pete Offringa gave a solid explanation of leadership practices and
061067 - concerns, but it was not related to the PMBOK, nor to the Conference
061068 - theme on obstacles and opportunities posed by technology. He discussed
061069 - background at the Corps of Engineers on adopting Project Management as
061070 - a formal process.
061072 - ..
061073 - Pete did not discuss the role of "preparations" in effective
061074 - leadership, contemplated for this scope at ref SDS 34 line 123, as
061075 - explained at ref SDS 34 line 56 and the letter to General Hatch issued
061076 - at ref SDS 37 line 147. There is no record of coordination with Pete
061077 - suggesting that he cover this point.
061078 -
061080 - ..
061081 - Ballon Presented Covey's Ideas on Management Practices
061082 -
061083 - Doug Ballon did a good job of condensing his 3 day seminar on Covey to
061084 - an hour, per review on 960405. ref SDS 40 4760 A future effort could
061085 - focus more on tying Covey's ideas to the PMBOK and to how technology
061086 - can support leaders in applying Covey and the PMBOK, per the goals set
061087 - for this scope on 960405. ref SDS 40 9770
061088 -
061089 -
061091 - ..
061092 - Wink & Bea Offered Good Ideas, But Not on Conference Topic
061093 -
061094 - Bill felt these presentations did not relate well to the theme about
061095 - using technology to improve leadership and the practice of management.
061096 - He saw only portions of Wink's presentation and so may have missed
061097 - pertinent remarks.
061099 - ..
061100 - Bill indicated that Sherrill McDonald was concerned about correlation
061101 - to the event theme, supporting observation at ref SDS 69 line 305.
061102 -
061103 - [Kavinder Singh, who spoke as part of the Turner team, liked both
061104 - of these presentations, ref SDS 74 line 111; Diego Garcia with
061105 - City of Oakland liked Wink's explanation of the Navy's nuclear
061106 - submarine program in the 1950s, ref SDS 79 line 90.]
061107 -
061109 - ..
061110 - Turner Presented Construction Practices, Future Ideas
061111 -
061112 - Bill said Russ gave an excellent presentation on project management at
061113 - Turner.
061114 -
061115 - [Confirmed by Joe Abron's report at ref SDS 75 line 533].
061117 - ..
061118 - Russ illustrated the increased flows of information by showing the
061119 - number of plan sheets needed to build the San Francisco City Hall at
061120 - the turn of the Century, compared to the much larger number of plan
061121 - sheets to rennovate the same facility today. Bill indicated that
061122 - Steve Rule was a very effective speaker. The PMI membership seemed to
061123 - show strong interest in his explanation of documentation to support
061124 - communication in a high risk environment.
061125 -
061126 - [See follow up discussion with Russ 8 months later, ref SDS 83
061127 - line 72.]
061129 - ..
061130 - It is not clear yet whether Steve explained Turner's role as a
061131 - "Communication Manager," to provide foundation for using technology to
061132 - improve leadership, per planning on 960125. ref SDS 26 8508
061134 - ..
061135 - Bill recalled that Kavinder cited Expedition in talking about
061136 - technology and leadership, per meeting on 960627. ref SDS 54 0034 He
061137 - also presented the Internet as a future information medium to expedite
061138 - communications, per planning on 960731. ref SDS 74 5933
061140 - ..
061141 - Bill said that Steve did not show a photograph of his desk stacked
061142 - high with papers to show the benefit of using the Internet to reduce
061143 - paper handling, per planning on 960606. ref SDS 51 9009
061144 -
061145 - It is unclear in the record how this correlated with Intel's
061146 - presentation which was planned to offer the Internet/Intranets as
061147 - a solution to "Data Pollution," per planning at meeting at Intel
061148 - with Turner on 960627. ref SDS 55 2531
061150 - ..
061151 - See Intel's presentation below. ref SDS 0 1552
061152 -
061154 - ..
061155 - Bill said Turner's presentation was well received and seemed to
061156 - accomplish the goal of exposing the membership to PMI's roots in the
061157 - construction industry, discussed at the Asilomar Committee meeting on
061158 - 950608. ref SDS 8 5928
061160 - ..
061161 - Bill recalled Russ indicating he would suggest involvement by Turner
061162 - in PMI monthly meetings.
061163 -
061165 - ..
061166 - Buoncristiani Synthesized Ideas; Omitted Concurrent Discovery
061167 -
061168 - Bill said David Buoncristiani did a great job presenting his paper at
061169 - the conference that explains communication practices recommended by
061170 - lawyers, reviewed on 960620. ref SDS 53 1643
061171 -
061172 - Be clear and concise. The less you write, the less chance for
061173 - misunderstanding or misinterpretation. The clearer you are, the
061174 - more likely the message will be understood and acted upon.
061175 - Don't offer an opinion if it isn't essential. Stick to the
061176 - facts. ref DRP 2 9934
061178 - ..
061179 - Bill missed some of David's presentation because he had to attend to
061180 - administrative tasks. He related that both Dave and Steve Rule brought
061181 - a lot of energy to their presentations, which made them effective,
061182 - entertaining and informative.
061184 - ..
061185 - Dave spent some of his time commenting on how ideas from the other
061186 - speakers are related.
061188 - ..
061189 - David mentioned the Concurrent Discovery paper, per telecon last
061190 - Tuesday, ref SDS 59 5993. There evidently was not extended discussion
061191 - of using technology to make the legal practice of "discovery" an
061192 - effective daily tool for managers and leaders to align communications,
061193 - as called out in the PMBOK and developed in the paper on Concurrent
061194 - Discovery, ref SDS 53 1111. David did show computer graphics can help
061195 - juries grasp complex construction sequencing to support entitlement.
061196 - [See meetings with Diego Garcia, ref SDS 79 8876 and Steve Rule,
061197 - ref SDS 80 8600.]
061199 - ..
061200 - Dave's presentation did not cover all of the points in the letter of
061201 - 960308, ref DIP 1 0001, confirming understandings from the meeting on
061202 - 960307, ref SDS 32 4571, on explaining the fragility of human memory
061203 - and how technology can support use of the "discovery" process to align
061204 - communications so mistakes are avoided, rather than cause a lawsuit or
061205 - losses and downsizing.
061206 -
061207 - [See discussion with David the next day on time limitations that
061208 - impacted his presentation, per ref SDS 66 8666
061209 -
061211 - ..
061212 - Dave Vannier Gave a Professional Presentation for Intel
061213 -
061214 - Dave initially got the schedule mixed up even though Joan and I worked
061215 - on this last week, ref SDS 61 0001, per ref DIP 2 0001
061216 -
061217 - Dave came to the conference Sunday Morning, so he missed his
061218 - speaking time of 3:30p Saturday, ref DRP 1 FO9I This worked out
061219 - okay though because it gave Turner and David Buoncristiani more
061220 - time for their presentations and for Q&A. The schedule had too
061221 - many speakers on Saturday anyway. Originally I planned for Dave
061222 - and Morris to speak consecutively because their scope is closely
061223 - related, as shown on 960103. ref SDS 24 0550
061224 -
061225 - [On 960717 explanation for this error, ref SDS 67 0001, and on
061226 - 960721 similar mixup narrowly averted by Morris, ref SDS 69
061227 - 0576 Steve Rule reported on 960805 that people were worried
061228 - that David had been in an accident driving down to Monterey.
061229 - ref SDS 76 EU5J On 960721 Dave concurs on likely scenario that
061230 - led to schedule mixup, per ref SDS 68 6997
061232 - ..
061233 - [On 960721 developed procedures to strengthen communication on
061234 - scheduling. ref SDS 69 0004
061235 -
061237 - ..
061238 - Power of Microcosm Empowers Leaders to Control Complexity
061239 -
061240 - David evidently did not submit a paper and did not bring a video
061241 - showing the complexity of chip design and fabrication that
061242 - illustrates the power of the microcosm to empower leadership by
061243 - gaining greater control over details, discussed at 960627 meeting,
061244 - ref SDS 55 line 568.
061245 - ..
061246 - Bill thought David's delivery was outstanding in explaining
061247 - the challenge of technology to help leaders prepare for the
061248 - growing complexity that is a harsh new reality of modern
061249 - management.
061251 - ..
061252 - He felt that Dave changed his presentation somewhat from the
061253 - outline we received at the 960627 meeting, ref SDS 55 2912, and
061254 - said that it worked well with the audience.
061256 - ..
061257 - Bill could not recall any particular prescriptions, ideas, or
061258 - solutions proposed, which seems to reflect a change from Intel's
061259 - outline which we received at the 960627 meeting. At that meeting
061260 - on 960627, Dave's outline showed several ideas, including
061261 - "Intelligent Access Solutions" at ref DRP 3 line 161, ref SDS 55
061262 - 2003.
061263 - ..
061264 - There may be some feedback on this from post-event attendee
061265 - surveys. Bill will let me know.
061267 - ..
061268 - Maybe we can get the final outline from Dave and some input from
061269 - him on the reason for omitting this part of his outline from the
061270 - presentation.
061271 -
061272 - [See discussion with Morris who reported David did a good
061273 - job explaining the benefits of mobile computing, ref SDS 69
061274 - line 424.]
061276 - ..
061277 - [See letter to Dave submitted at ref SDS 71 line 100.]
061279 - ..
061280 - Improve Impressions with Facts; Linking Summary to Details
061281 -
061282 - This record reflects Dave's explanation at the 960103 meeting of
061283 - the challenge for managers to glean substance rather than be
061284 - carried away by polished presentation skills, ref SDS 23 4950, per
061285 - analysis of Covey's idea that excessive focus on motivational
061286 - skills leads people down the wrong path, ref SDS 2 5940. We
061287 - talked about this in the 960312 telecon, ref SDS 33 4564.
061288 - ..
061289 - Perhaps a future event can treat the Communication Metrics
061290 - solution of linking summary to details, and integrating time,
061291 - information, and subjects, i.e., what Landauer calls "meaning,"
061292 - per discussion with Marcy at the 960326 meeting on converting
061293 - information into knowledge. ref SDS 36 4839
061294 -
061295 - [On 971210 demonstrated using Internet for paperless office to
061296 - Bill DeHart. ref SDS 86 0000]
061298 - ..
061299 - [On 980813 notified Jill Harrington, past President of PMI NCC
061300 - about Communication Metrics web site. ref SDS 89 1587]
061301 -
061303 - ..
061304 - Paperless Office: Still a Dream in the Mainstream
061305 - Reality of New Technology: Reduced Management Productivity
061306 -
061307 - Bill said that David reported Intel's expectation that technology
061308 - will cause the "paper" problem to grow worse, per understandings
061309 - at the 960627 meeting, ref SDS 55 8488, Marcy's comment on 960326,
061310 - ref SDS 36 0004, and the initial meeting with Dave on 950927. see
061311 - ref SDS 15 6021 and ref SDS 15 7732.
061313 - ..
061314 - It is not clear how these remarks were reconciled with Turner's
061315 - presentation on the Internet. ref SDS 0 4229 (Steve Rule did not
061316 - bring the photoghraph of his desk to support this point, per
061317 - planning on 960606. ref SDS 52 9009)
061318 -
061319 - [On 971202 HQ USACE staff reported that realities of new
061320 - technology have not been explained. ref SDS 85 3231]
061322 - ..
061323 - [On 971210 demonstrated using Internet for paperless office to
061324 - Bill DeHart. ref SDS 86 0000]
061326 - ..
061327 - [On 980613 article reports "Virtual Office" using the Internet
061328 - is not productive. ref SDS 87 2473 and ref SDS 87 3499]
061330 - ..
061331 - [On 980803 demonstrated paperless office to U.S. Army Corps of
061332 - Engineers. ref SDS 88 1111]
061333 - ..
061334 - Dave did not demonstrate how to link information, create Web
061335 - pages or access Intel meeting agendas on the Internet, as
061336 - discussed with Dave at the 960627 meeting, ref SDS 55 3913 and
061337 - cited by an industry analyst as a needed application for customers
061338 - to justify purchasing growing processor power. ref SDS 25 5840
061340 - ..
061341 - Perhaps there wasn't enough time to prepare, or possibly it is too
061342 - difficult to accomplish to make an effective presentation at a
061343 - management conference. Dave mentioned this point at the 960627
061344 - meeting, ref SDS 55 2462.
061345 - ..
061346 - David cited his 1991 Byte article on the goal of "automated
061347 - management that combines time and information to replace the
061348 - manual notebook managers have used for centuries, per our meeting
061349 - on 950927, ref SDS 15 8943, and our discussion again on 960627,
061350 - ref SDS 55 4899.
061351 - ..
061352 - Dave illustrated slow progress on "Paperless Office," per
061353 - meeting on 950927, ref SDS 15 7732), by asking during his
061354 - presentation if anyone had a notebook computer. Someone from the
061355 - audience said they brought one but it is not turned on.
061356 - (reflecting planning on 960226 for Landauer's presentation, see
061357 - ref SDS 29 5882).
061358 -
061359 - [See Dave Buoncristiani's report that Dave Vannier offered
061360 - strong remarks on this point, ref SDS 66 4882, confirmed by
061361 - Morris Jones on 960721. ref SDS 69 0248]
061363 - ..
061364 - This response, plus mixups on Conference scheduling and the
061365 - efforts to get a quote from Andy Grove, ref SDS 55 line 661,
061366 - seem to illustrate the value added of Communication Metrics,
061367 - so possibly this can be considered for a future event showing
061368 - how Intel's processors can support the "Paperless Office."
061369 - ..
061370 - In any case, it underscores the challenge of applying
061371 - sound management practice consistently using accepted tools,
061372 - which Dave said is hard to do under the hectic pace of
061373 - business today, ref SDS 15 line 313, and Joan mentioned this
061374 - at ref SDS 27 line 170; it reflects the difficulties at the
061375 - Wharton School of Business, ref SDS 14 line 107, and
061376 - everywhere else on the planet: Primavera, Chips, ref SDS 17
061377 - line 134, IBM, Fluor, TMJ&B, City of San Francisco,
061378 - ref SDS 4 line 188.
061379 -
061381 - ..
061382 - Automated Notebook: Ignored, Feared and Denied
061383 -
061384 - What would have happened if someone had said "Gee, my notebook
061385 - computer is open. It shows progress on the "Paperless
061386 - Office," per discussions with Marcy on 960326, ref SDS 36 line
061387 - 737, and with Dave and Marcy at the 960627 meeting, ref SDS 55
061388 - line 192. Suppose someone had said...
061389 -
061390 - "See, here is the meeting we had on Asilomar objectives,
061391 - and here are the calls, letters and analysis where we
061392 - followed up. See how ideas grew and tasks flowed from
061393 - original objectives? Here is the article in Time magazine
061394 - about cognition, here is Tom Landauer's book on computers
061395 - and his paper on knowledge acquisition; here is the PMBOK.
061396 - Here is the email sending the Asilomar Schedule. Here is
061397 - where it is all tied together in Controllable Action Items
061398 - called the SDS "Schedule." See, how it is all instantly
061399 - available without paper!"
061401 - ..
061402 - [See need for solution per COE example, ref SDS 78 line 165,
061403 - supporting prior discussions with Turner, ref SDS 52 line
061404 - 184.]
061405 -
061407 - ..
061408 - Automated Management, Can We Define It?
061409 -
061410 - Would such an effort have spawned dialog to define "Paperless
061411 - Office" and the meaning of "Automated Management," i.e., how
061412 - do we recognize it if we encounter it? Would there have been
061413 - enough time to deal with hurt feelings and pent up anger from
061414 - people reaching for this goal and being frustrated, per ref
061415 - SDS 15 line 731 and ref SDS 1 line 218.
061416 -
061417 - [Followed up with Intel at ref SDS 77 line 107.]
061418 -
061420 - ..
061421 - Emperor Wore No Cloths; and, Cloths with no Emperor
061422 -
061423 - Work preparing for the Asilomar Conference over the past year
061424 - does not suggest that an explanation or demonstration of the
061425 - "Paperless Office" that conflicts with the official view of
061426 - reality by mainstream providers would have been welcome this
061427 - year at Asilomar, per ref SDS 17 line 632. It appears though
061428 - that important ground work was laid for a future presentation,
061429 - by defining the challenge of creating automated management.
061430 -
061432 - ..
061433 - Voice Recognition Empowers Leaders with Communication Metrics
061434 -
061435 - Bill recalled Dave mentioning that progress on meaningful voice
061436 - recognition is slow. There was no discussion, however, of how
061437 - such capability could be usefully deployed, even if it were
061438 - available, as discussed in the notes of the 960627 meeting, ref
061439 - SDS 54 line 516.
061441 - ..
061442 - Might automated voice recognition empower executives to easily
061443 - capture and test more of the record and thereby make fewer
061444 - mistakes than they are making now, as called out by Communication
061445 - Metrics? There was no discussion of the idea that in the interim
061446 - a "Communication Manager," "Leadership Aide," or "Process Analyst"
061447 - might apply the technology called SDS that makes "automated
061448 - management a reality, per idea in the notes of the meeting with
061449 - Intel on 960627, ref SDS 55 line 498.
061450 - ..
061451 - This state of the record shows executives are still hoping
061452 - to get by with conversation, per Morris' report, ref SDS 69 line
061453 - 749, yet despite Intel's report on "data pollution," they are
061454 - unaware that more information causes more erroneous
061455 - "understanding" absent traceability to original sources that links
061456 - information and time. Since Landauer was not at the Conference to
061457 - explain his findings on "meaning drift" due to Intel's "data
061458 - pollution," ref SDS 48 line 251, conferees did not hear a key
061459 - aspect of reaching the "Paperless Office" and "Automated
061460 - Management" goal. Maybe next time!!
061461 -
061463 - ..
061464 - Morris Was Very Effective on Obstacles to Leadership
061465 -
061466 - Morris demonstrated Ecco Pro or mentioned it as an example of how
061467 - executives actually use technology.
061468 -
061469 - It is unclear from the record if he explained that he is only using
061470 - 20% of the program, ref SDS 21 5850, and that he feels it can do a lot
061471 - of things that might be helpful, but he does not have time to learn
061472 - them, per our discussion in December, ref SDS 21 5850.
061474 - ..
061475 - He did not indicate that a Communication Manager could help solve
061476 - this; nor did he mention the Communication Metrics article in
061477 - PMnetwork, nor the "knowledge space" concept that makes it possible
061478 - for technology to organize "management details," per the paper on
061479 - Concurrent Discovery, ref OF 1 line 387, and the paper prepared for
061480 - him on how technology can overcome obstacles to leadership at ref OF 3
061481 - line 736.
061482 -
061483 - [See meeting with Morris on his recollections of Asilomar, ref
061484 - SDS 68 line 221.]
061485 - ..
061486 - Morris evidently explained the need for more analysis, but did
061487 - not show nor explain how to do it with technology nor suggest what
061488 - level of effort is required to fulfill this need. It is unclear at
061489 - this time whether he discussed the role of technology to improve
061490 - "understanding," per the paper submitted to him at ref SDS 63 line
061491 - 121. His Event outline indicated technology cannot do this, as shown
061492 - at ref OF 2 8842, reflecting difficulties explained at the meeting on
061493 - 951228, ref SDS 21 line 631.
061494 - ..
061495 - Bill recalled Morris indicating that computers have not changed/
061496 - improved the way managers and leaders work (confirmed by Morris at ref
061497 - SDS 68 line 864, saying "reengineering" has come to mean downsizing,
061498 - rather than designing work practices and tools to improve management
061499 - productivity, per ref SDS 45 line 239, and ref SDS 69 line 906.]
061500 -
061501 - [On 960823 discussion with Bill. ref SDS 81 4747.]
061503 - ..
061504 - [See VDT reported in PMI Newsletter as "reengineering" to
061505 - address communication bottlenecks, ref SDS 82 line 84; and
061506 - pilot testing to support effective "reengineering." ref SDS 82
061507 - line 131.]
061509 - ..
061510 - Information Highway Has Reduced Management Productivity
061511 -
061512 - Morris seems not to have addressed the phenomena of accelerating
061513 - communications through the compression of time and distance, e.g.,
061514 - fax, email, which MacNamera and Kissinger note impacts leadership
061515 - decisions by causing more cursory analysis, reviewed on 940609,
061516 - ref SDS 3 4238, from greater reliance on conversation because it
061517 - seems fast and easy, per our meeting in Feb, ref SDS 30 2004 This
061518 - reflects denial on 951101 that information is a growing burdon.
061519 - ref SDS 18 1759 He did not cite at Asilomar efforts to create
061520 - automated management so people can "understand" and follow up on
061521 - the Information Highway by using an automated notebook, paperless
061522 - office, Communication Metrics, nor did he cite his effort
061523 - supporting SDS the past 13 years.
061524 - ..
061525 - What "obstacle" does this reticence to analyse portend for
061526 - leadership in the 21st century on the Information Highway?
061527 -
061528 -
061530 - ..
061531 - Panel Discussion Did Not Address Asilomar Theme
061532 -
061533 - Ahmet moderated the panel discussion on Sunday. Bill said it worked
061534 - pretty well, because it went on until they were asked to leave after
061535 - 1230 or so when another group needed the room. This showed audience
061536 - interest in the panel members and the discussion.
061537 -
061538 - It is not clear at this time what ideas were offered and
061539 - challenged by the panel, which was the intent of having a panel.
061541 - ..
061542 - Morris later indicated the panel talked mostly about how "Project
061543 - Management" is performing as a discipline, ref SDS 69 line 416,
061544 - which is, also, covered in the August PMnetwork.
061545 - ..
061546 - We had planned for General Hatch to chair this panel
061547 - ref SDS 47 line 83, in order to focus on using technology for
061548 - "automated integration" of work practices to support the
061549 - "intelligence" function which leaders need in order for projects
061550 - to succeed in a fast moving, complex environment, ref SDS 42 line
061551 - 655. Hatch could not do this, however, for the reasons at
061552 - ref SDS 50 line 101.
061553 -
061554 -
061556 - ..
061557 - Ambassadors of Change: No Leadership Moving the Ball Forward
061558 -
061559 - There was no closing speaker to summarize what was learned and how to
061560 - begin testing and implementing new ideas on Monday morning. There was
061561 - nothing on how to deal with resistance to change or how to determine
061562 - if change is moving in the right direction, per discussion with
061563 - General Hatch at ref SDS 22 2131. General Hatch's appearance to
061564 - address these matters was hampered because the Committee did not have
061565 - enough time to contact him, ref SDS 39 line 125, reflecting orignial
061566 - concern about timely notice at ref SDS 9 line 840.
061568 - ..
061569 - This reflects in part that no ideas were offered to solve the gridlock
061570 - of the Information Highway.
061571 -
061572 -
061574 - ..
0616 -
0617 -
0618 - Analysis/Evaluation
0619 - ..
0620 - ..
062001 - Omission of Brusman and Landauer Impacted Conference
062002 - The lack of an
062003 - explanation about the impact of a faster paced world on human capacity
062004 - to "understand" and follow up (per analysis of Landauer's scope in
062005 - February, ref SDS 29 line 149), left conferees without a means to
062006 - grasp the solution to the New World Order problems cited by Dave
062007 - Vannier, i.e., "data pollution" and no progress on automated notebook,
062008 - and Morris Jones, inadequate analysis and no improvement in executive
062009 - work practices.
062010 -
062011 -
062013 - ..
062014 - Conference Theme Was Not Addressed by Speakers
062015 -
062016 - Evidently some presentations did not relate well to the Conference
062017 - theme nor deal with the PMBOK. This view was supported by comments
062018 - from others, ref SDS 69 8258.
062019 -
062020 - Pre-conference meetings helped some speakers prepare and so this
062021 - should be continued in the future.
062022 -
062023 - [David Vannier later reported that "communications" can be
062024 - improved on managing future PMI events, ref SDS 68 0670; see
062025 - Morris' comments, ref SDS 69 8258.]
062027 - ..
062028 - [See assessment of Communication Metrics ref SDS 73 line 36.]
062029 - ..
062030 - ..
062031 - Solution: Call for Papers -------------------------- We
062032 - considered today the value of asking speakers to submit an
062033 - abstract of their remarks in advance of speaking at Asilomar,
062034 - similar to the procedure for the National Conference. We could
062035 - put out a call for papers.
062037 - ..
062038 - Theme Was Too Broad/Complex
062039 -
062040 - Bill feels the theme may have been too broad for a 3 day
062041 - conference.
062042 -
062043 - [See follow up with Intel on this point, ref SDS 77 3003,
062044 - also discussion with Morris at ref SDS 69 0889.]
062046 - ..
062047 - My sense is that a professional conference on how technology
062048 - impacts leadership is critical and topical. The PMI NCC Event
062049 - Committee found "communication" is too "narrow" for a year long
062050 - theme at the 950719 meeting, ref SDS 12 0443. The subject of
062051 - management communications was considered too broad for a single 3
062052 - day event in planning meetings last year at ref SDS 8 line 255.
062053 - The challenge for any professional event is to present a body of
062054 - ideas that attendees can grasp and implement or otherwise plan
062055 - follow up.
062056 - ..
062057 - There is considerable attention in the public media about
062058 - the impact of communication, which is a primary part of
062059 - leadership and of people's daily lives, including projects.
062060 - People feel the tension from the constant flow of information,
062061 - ref SDS 19 line 145, and their lives are changed by failed
062062 - leadership, as seen by constant rounds of downsizing under the
062063 - guise of "reengineering." ref SDS 38 line 120.
062065 - ..
062066 - The Asilomar Conference "project" illustrates the need for better
062067 - use of PMBOK processes to improve leadership that aligns people
062068 - through communications, ref SDS 69 line 397 and ref SDS 13 line
062069 - 76.
062070 -
062072 - ..
062073 - Reengineering to Fit Vision of Leadership
062074 -
062075 - The original "strategy" called for 3 or 4 events to treat aspects
062076 - of "communication" in some depth that would build toward new
062077 - ideas on leadership as a function of communication, and, also, a
062078 - report on PMBOK relevance. "Tactics" were developed to implement
062079 - this strategy. When communication showed the level of effort
062080 - needed for the tactics, follow up tasks were not performed. This
062081 - led to "reengineering" the project. Strategy and staffing were
062082 - narrowed to fit the vision of leadership. Two conferences were
062083 - planned, but without coordination of scope to present related
062084 - ideas that would build a conceptual framework to solve the riddle
062085 - of the Information Highway.
062086 -
062087 - [See more on "strategy" and "tactics" at ref SDS 72 line 85.]
062088 - ..
062089 - This seems similar to the concern Robert MacNamera raises
062090 - in his book "In Retrospect," that leaders disconnected from
062091 - details and isolated from impacts of failed efforts, have
062092 - difficulty grasping the need for changing their work practices.
062093 - They reengineer by changing where people work, to whom they
062094 - report and if they work, but there is no basic change in the way
062095 - they work, per Morris' point at the Conference.
062096 -
062097 -
062099 - ..
062100 - Coordination on Speaker Scope Needed
062101 -
062102 - Separate coordination between two sets of 4 speakers at Asilomar
062103 - showed some benefit to using Communication Metrics.
062104 -
062105 - Plans for experts to explain the link between communication problems
062106 - in the office that cause tension, conflict and hurt feelings, as
062107 - reported at Chips and elsewhere, with business difficulties that cause
062108 - losses, litigation and reengineering/downsizing, were not implemented
062109 - in favor of speakers who had nothing to contribute to the theme; or,
062110 - if they did, were never given the opportunity to formulate and
062111 - integrate their ideas with the other speakers. The criteria for
062112 - speaker selection and support needs to be reviewed in light of the
062113 - Asilomar experience.
062114 -
062115 - [See also analysis at ref SDS 69 line 597.]
062116 -
062117 -
062119 - ..
062121 - ..
062122 - Feel Good Management Prevailed over PMBOK
062123 - Leadership of Difficult Objectives Needs Motivational Factors
062124 -
062125 - At this remove, it is difficult to see what more could have been done
062126 - to assist PMI in providing an effective event.
062127 -
062128 - This Conference may result in better planning for future PMI NCC
062129 - events because the planners sensed problems from lack of coordination,
062130 - ref SDS 69 line 389. On the other hand, since Sherrill McDonald is
062131 - stepping down as a program manager, these lessons may be lost on
062132 - whoever takes his place, unless it is someone like Bill DeHart. Bill
062133 - has requested a report from Sherrill and Ahmet which could aid future
062134 - planners, but it seems unlikely their reports will offer guidance on
062135 - the central need to implement the PMBOK, since nobody really knows how
062136 - to do that under the reasoning at ref SDS 69 line 411.
062137 - ..
062138 - It also seems true that the higher we aim in a volunteer
062139 - setting, the less likely it is to achieve all of the goals, since they
062140 - are difficult and the motivational forces available to leadership in
062141 - volunteer endeavors are limited. This suggests Communication Metrics
062142 - fares better in contract settings or where leadership is committed to
062143 - support it.
062144 -
062145 - [See discussion on assessment of leadership and Communication
062146 - Metrics, ref SDS 73 line 33.]
062147 -
062148 -
062150 - ..
062151 - Attendance Was Below Targets
062152 -
062153 - There were only about 50 paid attendees instead of the 100 - 200
062154 - planned; so Asilomar cannot have been a financial success.
062155 -
062156 - We discussed the need for a greater advertising effort and for
062157 - publicity in PMI publications. For some reason, we did not
062158 - adequately highlight the strong speakers we had, e.g., Morris,
062159 - Intel, Turner, etc., at PMI monthly meetings.
062160 -
062161 - [Ahmet reports Jill Harrington did publicity, ref SDS 82 line
062162 - 542.]
062163 -
062164 - PMI failed to publish pre-event quotations, and call to arms from
062165 - General Hatch and Morris. Dave Vannier and Marcy Puhnaty
062166 - miss-fired on getting a quote from Andy Grove, ref SDS 55 line 640.
062167 -
062168 - <HC59 The speaker list lacked any celebrities such as Landauer,
062169 - who is an author, and Walsh who has strong name recognition.
062170 - ..
062171 - The drawing power of Intel may have been over-estimated,
062172 - except without adequate publicity, this is difficult to judge.
062173 -
062174 - We should interview people with expertise for their assessment of
062175 - these factors, and possibly do a membership survey. In theory, an
062176 - event like this should produce positive revenue based on the value
062177 - it will add to attendees' work practice and earning potential,
062178 - plus entertainment.
062179 -
062181 - ..
062182 - Sherrill McDonald indicated to Bill that he does not want to be the
062183 - program leader for future Asilomar events. He feels the demands for
062184 - coordinating turned out to be more significant than expected.
062185 -
062187 - ..
062188 - Papers to Support Use of Conference Ideas Did Not Meet Goals
062189 -
062190 - Bill said the following occurred:
062191 -
062192 - Morris handed out his Powerpoint outline during his talk.
062193 -
062194 - David Buoncristiani mentioned the Concurrent Discovery paper.
062196 - ..
062197 - Bill did not have a chance to distribute his memo on using SDS and
062198 - POIMS at PG&E, at the Conference, per our discussion at ref SDS 62
062199 - 5562.
062200 -
062201 -
062203 - ..
062204 - Audio Visual Equipment for Computer Presentations
062205 -
062206 - The computer projector equipment Sherrill brought from Kaiser was
062207 - inadequate, per understandings at ref SDS 57 line 62. Turner and
062208 - David Buoncristiani used Turner's equipment. David Vannier and Morris
062209 - used David Buoncristiani's equipment the next morning. ref SDS 60 line
062210 - 54. Backup units turned out to be helpful.
062211 -
062212 - [See clarification by David at ref SDS 66 line 91; Ahmet reported
062213 - that Diego Garcia helped with equipment, ref SDS 82 line 536.]
062214 -
062215 -
062217 - ..
062218 - Accomplishments
062219 -
062220 - Some ideas evolved from the Conference and the experience over the
062221 - past year working as a Leadership Aide/Communication Manager to
062222 - support the PMI Asilomar Committee and various speakers:
062224 - ..
062225 -
062226 - PMI was given an opportunity to be an important voice in forging a
062227 - better partnership between leadership and technology in the 21st
062228 - century, ref SDS 45 line 152.
062230 - ..
062231 -
062232 - Concurrent Discovery was formed to provide an intellectual bridge
062233 - (ref SDS 46 line 277) from "familiar" practices of the legal
062234 - profession, to the "new" management science, called Communication
062235 - Metrics, ref SDS 53 line 159, as a way to overcome the fragility
062236 - of human memory that hampers leadership on the Information
062237 - Highway, ref SDS 53 line 178.
062239 - ..
062240 -
062241 - "Knowledge Space" analogous to "dimensional space" was defined to
062242 - improve CAD-CAM tools and work practices of design professionals,
062243 - ref SDS 58 line 320. These ideas came from writing the paper on
062244 - Concurrent Discovery and devising a skit for Turner to illustrate
062245 - "management details" can be managed similarly to "construction
062246 - details." ref SDS 41 line 228 They were not, however, presented
062247 - at the Conference.
062249 - ..
062250 -
062251 - "Be Prepared" emerged as a key factor of leadership, ref SDS 34
062252 - line 50, based on work with General Hatch, ref SDS 34 line 127,
062253 - and Bill Walsh, ref SDS 16 line 551. The Information Highway is a
062254 - growing obstacle to adequate preparations, which the SDS program
062255 - can help overcome. But these ideas were not presented at the
062256 - Conference.
062258 - ..
062259 - ..
062260 - Paradigm shift from "documents" to "automated knowledge
062261 - stream," i.e., the "Paperless Office" was developed at ref SDS 35ref SDS 55 line 191. This, however, was not
062263 - presented at the Conference.
062265 - ..
062266 -
062267 - Executive Mindset emerged as a key obstacle to leadership, which
062268 - is compounded by the Information Highway, and which Communication
062269 - Metrics helps overcome by combining technology and new class of
062270 - support using a leadership aide, per work at ref SDS 28 line 339.
062272 - ..
062273 -
062274 - An executive reported technology cannot support leadership, and it
062275 - was disclosed that negative progress has occurred since 1991 in
062276 - defining a meaningful "Paperless Office," "Automated Notebook" and
062277 - "automated integration of management," which increasingly powerful
062278 - technology can in fact support, ref SDS 21 line 717 and ref SDS 66
062279 - line 85.
062281 - ..
062282 -
062283 - "More information harms understanding" was presented by Intel's
062284 - "data pollution" point, ref DRP 3 line 62, ref SDS 55 line 374,
062285 - which supports Communication Metrics solution to align people
062286 - through traceability to accomplish General Hatch's idea of
062287 - automating the military "intelligence" function; however, the
062288 - latter idea was not actually presented at the Conference.
062290 - ..
062291 - ..
062292 - Group exercises were developed showing "understanding" is
062293 - harmed by the Information Highway, and so leadership is hampered,
062294 - per ref SDS 35 line 473; however, these were not used at the
062295 - Conference.
062297 - ..
062298 -
062299 - There is no evident awareness of "leadership" to align people
062300 - through communications, as called out by the PMBOK. People are
062301 - afraid or otherwise unwilling to speak about this duty and the
062302 - opportunity it offers for leadership to succeed.
062304 - ..
062306 - ..
062307 - Consistent use of PMBOK practices causes anger, fear, frustration
062308 - and anxiety among executives.
062309 -
062310 - [see discussion with Morris on 960721, ref SDS 69 2000 and at
062311 - ref SDS 69 0120 explaining "telephone game."]
062313 - ..
062314 -
062315 - A psychological buffer analogous to a caching system in computer
062316 - memory management is therefore needed to enable consistent use of
062317 - good management.
062318 -
062319 - [Discussion with Morris on 960721, ref SDS 69 8557]
062321 - ..
062322 - However, the need for a Leadership Aide, Communication Manager or
062323 - Process Analyst to apply the technology (i.e., pilot) that permits
062324 - consistent use of sound management practice was not presented at
062325 - the Conference, contrary to planning discussed with General Hatch
062326 - on 970410. ref SDS 42 3229 and in the discussion with Morris on
062327 - 960413 ref SDS 43 8848.
062328 -
062329 - [See where this was applied in a PMI NCC Newsletter a year
062330 - later, ref SDS 84 line 100.]
062332 - ..
062333 - ..
062334 - Leaders do not have enough time on the Information Highway
062335 - to read and write, obviating the foundation of civilization
062336 - predicated on knowledge acquisition through traceability to
062337 - original sources, giving rise to the need for Communication
062338 - Manager support; however, this was not offered at the Conference.
062339 -
062340 - [Discussion with Morris on 960721, ref SDS 69 4234]
062342 - ..
062343 -
062344 - Leaders refuse to perform PMBOK duty to align themselves and team
062345 - members using traceability to original sources, absent incentives
062346 - of payment, promotion or fear of loss/harm under a contract
062347 - provision mandating sound management practice, e.g., submit a CPM,
062348 - ref SDS 73 line 46.
062350 - ..
062351 -
062352 - Leadership with broader vision was formed to overcome obstacles of
062353 - the Information Highway that inhibits understanding and follow up;
062354 - Feel Good management that uses cursory analysis of understandings
062355 - disconnected from details because conversation seems fast and
062356 - easy; and the executive mindset to avoid reading and writing and
062357 - blame others for results not aligned with objectives; to, instead,
062358 - use technology and a new management science of Communication
062359 - Metrics to lift the capacity to think, remember and communicate.
062360 - The single step that improves results more than anything else is
062361 - asking "how soon can we get the SDS record on this?
062363 - ..
062364 - ..
062365 - We found that some computer projectors work better than
062366 - others, failing to test may lead to failure at inopportune time,
062367 - backup of critical needs is helpful, resistance to using sound
062368 - management practice can be overcome, ref SDS 56 line 55,
062369 - ref SDS 57 line 62.
062370 -
062372 - ..
062373 - Follow Up
062374 -
062375 - A number of potential steps seem possible to further the aims of the
062376 - Conference:
062378 - ..
062379 -
062380 - Bill spoke to Jim Pennypecker about an article on the event. Jim
062381 - indicated Bill could submit something for publication. Bill plans
062382 - to write a report on Asilomar for the PMI NCC newsletter and he
062383 - will submit it for publication by PMnetwork.
062385 - ..
062386 -
062387 - Bill requested assessment reports from Ahmet and from Sherrill.
062388 - He noted that this applies the SDS methodology of "plan, perform,
062389 - report."
062391 - ..
062392 - ..
062393 - We considered requesting assessment from the speakers on the
062394 - Conference and feedback on improvements they feel should be
062395 - considered for event planning next year.
062396 -
062397 - [See meeting with Morris and his understandings of Lois Zells
062398 - assessment, ref SDS 69 line 160; telecon Dave Buoncristiani,
062399 - ref SDS 66 line 60; letter to Intel, ref SDS 77 line 87,
062400 - telecon Kavinder, ref SDS 74 line 62, meeting with Turner, ref
062401 - SDS 75 line 55.]
062403 - ..
062404 -
062405 - Some speakers might be asked to present their solutions at PMI's
062406 - monthly meetings in the fall and winter.
062408 - ..
062409 -
062410 - Future events could present solutions to the problems disclosed at
062411 - this Asilomar event.
062412 - ..
062413 - We could take as a point of departure David's question of
062414 - how many people have their notebook computer open. Can we think
062415 - of anything to use them for in an event like Asilomar. Are there
062416 - any examples of using a notebook computer to capture and apply
062417 - ideas from a seminar? What do those examples suggest about
062418 - "automated management" and the "paperless office"?
062420 - ..
062421 -
062422 - Need results of post-event attendee surveys.
062423 -
062424 - [Asked about post-event attendee surveys at ref SDS 73 line
062425 - 76.]
062426 -
062427 -
062428 -
0625 -