CONTACTS 

SUBJECTS
Sales discussions
Computers Managers Don't Use, Need Thinking
People Skills Motivate, Listen, Guide,
Communication Skills, Talking People into
Leadership Talking; Needs Understanding &
Communication Main Factor Management Productivity Success 90% of Time
Embarrass Self-esteem Competence Organizational Memory Fear Conflicts
Organizational Memory Asset for Organization Liability for Individual
Paperwork SDS Writing Impedes Expediting Work

1911 -    ..
1912 - Summary/Objective
1913 -
191301 - Follow up ref SDS 20 0000, ref SDS 19 0000.
191302 -
191303 - This is to consider the "human" side of management and leadership,
191304 - since that notion seems to resonate among many managers who feel, as
191305 - Morris set out in his outline for Asilomar, that technology cannot
191306 - support "understanding," ref SDS 13 8201, and as Diego Garcia noted on
191307 - 960815, that his work practice favors the human side over technology.
191308 - ref SDS 20 FT5I  Ross Armstrong made a similar point on 920402.
191309 - ref SDS 3 0001
191310 -
191311 - Human Centered Design was reviewed on 940510. ref SDS 5 3850  It seems
191312 - support Empathic Design reviewed on 940508 that relies on research to
191313 - determine the evolving character of daily work, so tools can be
191314 - devised to help people before they need it, ref SDS 4 0001
191315 - ..
191316 - There seems to be a significant disconnect, and in fact a deep
191317 - emotional feeling within people, that managers deal with people and
191318 - not with computers, so to suggest that computers can help managers is
191319 - heretical, certainly counterintuitive.  The record on 950517 is an
191320 - example. ref SDS 8 7943  This reflects the distinction between "data"
191321 - and "information," on the one hand, which civilization generally holds
191322 - is the province of computers, and "knowledge," and "wisdom" and
191323 - "vision," which are viewed as the rhelm of human interaction through
191324 - communication and leadership, that SDS supports, per analysis on
191325 - 960510. ref SDS 11 5672 and on 950327. ref SDS 6 8492
191326 -
191327 - How then can we put "humanity" into SDS to show support for
191328 - "intelligence," improves this aspect of life.
191329 -
191330 - This is a tall order because there has not previously been a way to
191331 - accomplish this.  The tradition has been that computers manage data,
191332 - not people.  Managers deal with people through talking and listening.
191333 -
191334 -     [On 991108 alphabetic mind evolved from tools for alphabet
191335 -     technology that augments human intelligence. ref SDS 26 5628
191336 -
191337 -     [On 991209 Plato's Phaedrus in 2400 BC shows long standing divide
191338 -     between talent and tools, orality and literacy. ref SDS 27 3416
191339 -
191340 -     [On 010321 added explanation of dichotomy between talent and tools
191341 -     to POIMS. ref SDS 28 T43N
191342 - ..
191343 - SDS supports Communication Metrics to help managers figure out
191344 - what to talk about and what to listen for and to figure out what
191345 - action to take after listening, and to schedule action when it is
191346 - warranted.
191347 -
191348 - This benefit of organizational memory, however, causes hurt feelings
191349 - because executives feel they know what to talk about and what to
191350 - listen for because they are the "boss." That, however, is the error,
191351 - made more so in the age of faster moving events on the "Information
191352 - Highway."  "Knowledge" is the cognitive aspect of managing that can be
191353 - supported by properly deployed technology, per meeting with Morris on
191354 - 960721 discussing Bill DeHart's feeling that the Asilomar Conference
191355 - theme was too broad, ref SDS 15 0889
191356 - ..
191357 - Managers resist the notion that their cognition can be improved,
191358 - and this can improve daily communication, because it threatens their
191359 - adequacy (competency) and self-esteeme, as indicated by the record on
191360 - 951101. ref SDS 10 1759  They feel the fact that they are the manager,
191361 - the boss, the executive establishes they are smart, so they don't need
191362 - a computer to do better.  This perspective, paradigm, is supported by
191363 - the fact that managers can seem to be quite successful even if they
191364 - never touch a computer, because the computers they are using now do
191365 - not support the right stuff. They do not have SDS; so this creates the
191366 - impression computers cannot help management, per discussion with
191367 - Morris on 890809 where he reports not using his computer for
191368 - management, ref SDS 2 8812, and further at ref SDS 2 7944
191369 -
191370 -     [On 990924 analysis of high cost of medical mistakes explains that
191371 -     improving management threatens job security by exposing need to
191372 -     strengthen competence. ref SDS 25 0593
191373 -
191374 -     [On 990527 cultural forces prevent improving management.
191375 -     ref SDS 24 1233
191376 -
191377 -     [On 010321 explained in POIMS threat that adding "Com Manager"
191378 -     role is threat to competence. ref SDS 28 RM4H
191379 - ..
191380 - I approached this with Diego by suggesting that successful
191381 - managers are good at aligning people.  He seemed to accept that.  I
191382 - suspect he feels comfortable with that formulation because it seems
191383 - safely distinct from anything computers can perform and so it suggests
191384 - that no technician can threaten his job.  In other words here is
191385 - something he can do that does not require going to school or learning
191386 - anything difficult, but which he has a special gift of having "people
191387 - skills", so he has job security on the cheap, just by being a nice
191388 - person who can listen and speak well.
191389 -
191390 - Anyway the idea of SDS is to support the process of building and then
191391 - maintaining shared meaning that is aligned with objectives,
191392 - requirements and commitments.
191393 -
191394 - SDS supports the "humanity" issue by crediting others with success and
191395 - with effective presentation in meetings and other communications,
191396 - rather than presenting a verbatim transcript that often makes people
191397 - look foolish, because in the heat of the moment, people say a lot of
191398 - things that do not align with objectives, requirements and
191399 - commitments, because human memory is fragile.  SD is used to expand
191400 - span of attention by constantly reminding of alignment.
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