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

SUBJECTS
New World Order..., Communication Metrics
Evaluation
Communication Metrics
Email Does Not Improve Productivity,
New Realities 21st Century, Prepare
Information Highway
Email Applications

1409 -    ..
1410 - Summary/Objective
1411 -
141101 - Follow up ref SDS 11 1331, ref SDS 10 0714.
141102 -
141103 - Denis sent a couple replies to my submission of the NWO paper,
141104 - indicating he is circulating it, but also saying he would like to
141105 - contribute to Asilomar based on his firm having recently been
141106 - recognized in a national publication as being "well managed."
141107 -
141108 - Denis' offer to speak at Asilomar appears to reflect a mixup in
141109 - information management, since the Asilomar matter occurred in 1996, 2
141110 - years ago.
141111 -
141112 - This seems to show the need for improving business communication even
141113 - for "well managed" firms. A new reality of modern business life is
141114 - that even the best managed firms need better intelligence to deal with
141115 - information overload.
141116 -
141117 -      [Submitted response on 980222. ref SDS 12 2239]
141118 -
141119 -      [On 980226 IBM announced plans to market business "intelligence"
141120 -      ref SDS 13 3342]
141121 -
141122 -      [On 980307 Andy Grove cites "new realities" that impact business
141123 -      performance. ref SDS 15 3151]
141124 -
141125 -      [On 980307 Andy Grove recommends experimenting with new methods
141126 -      to improve management. ref SDS 14 3416  He says the Internet
141127 -      requires "study" to discover best application and impact. see at
141128 -      ref SDS 15 3620]
141129 -
141130 -      [On 980417 report that executives at firms making advanced use of
141131 -      technology do not have enough time to think, earnings are down,
141132 -      operating expenses are up. ref SDS 19 4269]
141133 -
141134 -
141135 -
141136 -
1412 -
1413 -
1414 - Progress
1415 -
141501 - Received, ref DRT 1 3481, which consists of two (2) email from Denis.
141502 - Both were sent on 980213; the first one has the time 1459 and second
141503 - shows the time 1522, or about 23 minutes later.  Since they are only a
141504 - few lines, I put them in the same file.
141505 -
141506 - Both letters have the same subject:
141507 -
141508 -           RE: Peer Review Communication Metrics, NWO ref DRT 1 2351
141509 -
141510 -      ...responding to my submission of the revised NWO... paper
141511 -      explaining use of the Internet for business intelligence, issued
141512 -      last Monday 980211. ref SDS 11 2135
141513 -
141514 - Denis' first letter sent at 1459 has only a one line response:
141515 -
141516 -      Thanks for the "paper" I am circulating it around the office. see
141517 -      ref DRT 1 3481
141518 - ..
141519 - Denis' second letter sent at 1522 says:
141520 -
141521 -      I received your 2-28 98 memo re: the Asilomar conference. It is
141522 -      something I would be interested in participating. I see it as
141523 -      something that I could contribute from a design profession
141524 -      standpoint as well as learn from other fields. We were recently
141525 -      named by Architectural Record as one of the best managed firms in
141526 -      America.
141527 -
141528 - This letter raises some interesting questions:
141529 -
141530 -       ..
141531 -      Email Mixup, Information Management Challenge
141532 -
141533 -      How could I have sent a memo dated 2-28-98 cited by Denis,
141534 -      anytime prior to that date, since email programs automatically
141535 -      date the documents?
141536 -
141537 -      I was associated with PMI's Asilomar Conference held in July
141538 -      1996.  In a letter dated 960228, ref DIP 4 2148, issued at ref
141539 -      SDS 1 2203, I invited Denis' to participate, but he advised in a
141540 -      meeting on 960313 that he could not contribute on that occasion.
141541 -      ref SDS 5 1719
141542 -      ..
141543 -      It appears that Denis' email somehow got mixed up causing
141544 -      my 960228 letter to be mistaken for a current matter. Coincidence
141545 -      of the 980228 and 960228 dates, in combination with a common
141546 -      subject matter of Asilomar, points to that explanation. If a
141547 -      mixup did occur, it supports reports by Intel, ref SDS 3 4939 and
141548 -      Dr. Landauer in his book "The Trouble with Computers" that email
141549 -      and computer applications in general are not designed well enough
141550 -      to improve management productivity, ref SDS 2 1222. These kinds
141551 -      of problems occur daily throughout industry and government. They
141552 -      show the potential of better earnings by using business metrics
141553 -      for communication that adds intelligence to information, as
141554 -      reported by the USACE. ref SDS 11 5368 and ref DRP 4 0129.
141555 -
141556 -      Another possibility is that Denis has received an invitation
141557 -      mistakenly dated 980228 to speak at this year's Asilomar
141558 -      Conference; or, he just entered the date incorrectly in his email
141559 -      to me, and he assumed I initiated the request on behalf of PMI.
141560 -
141561 -      Otherwise I am at a loss about this matter, particularly because
141562 -      I understood that PMI cancelled Asilomar this year, or it has
141563 -      been moved to a different location.
141564 -
141565 -      The Kwan Henmi award of recognition as a well managed firm is
141566 -      good news. ref DRT 1 2783  I would like to visit the firm and/or
141567 -      hear about the procedures they use that set them apart.  Kwan
141568 -      Henmi's experience offers important insights for the NWO paper on
141569 -      improving management.
141570 -
141571 -
141572 -       ..
141573 -      America's Best Managed Firms Need Better Intelligence
141574 -
141575 -      How does Kwan Henmi handle the high volume of information that
141576 -      seems to cause misunderstanding, mistakes and rework cited in the
141577 -      USACE report, submitted to KH on 971015. ref DIP 1 2622
141578 -
141579 -      This is an example of errors that regularly occur througout
141580 -      industry and government due to information overload, e.g., Intel
141581 -      on 960509, ref SDS 6 3968, as reported in books on management.
141582 -      ref SDS 8 2878
141583 -
141584 -          [On 980412 CBS News 60 Minutes broadcast a program segment on
141585 -          informtion overload causing widespread problems. ref SDS 17
141586 -          2085]
141587 -
141588 -          [On 980417 example of reduced earnings due to increased
141589 -          operating expenses at firm where executives report not having
141590 -          enough time to think. ref SDS 19 4269]
141591 -
141592 -      Denis mentioned in our meeting on 960313 that KH hired a
141593 -      management consultant with psychologist expertise on dialog and
141594 -      listening. ref SDS 5 4384  Is this a model for better management?
141595 -
141596 -      I developed a concept for the 1996 Asilomar Conference of...
141597 -
141598 -                          "knowledge space"
141599 -
141600 -      ...or alternatively
141601 -
141602 -                          "management space"
141603 -
141604 -      ...to explain a process of using technology to manage information
141605 -      in a manner that supports a system of business metrics, analogous
141606 -      to the dimensional space that architect's use. ref SDS 7 3516
141607 -
141608 -      Knowledge space is cited in the NWO paper submitted to Denis. ref
141609 -      OF 2 4212
141610 -
141611 -      One reason I invited Denis to attend the 1996 Asilomar Conference
141612 -      was to get his input on this idea.
141613 -
141614 -      Denis' experience over the past two years, and the credibility of
141615 -      being named a well managed firm by industry authorities offers an
141616 -      opportunity for him to explore the importance of using the right
141617 -      design of technology and management science in order to achieve
141618 -      meaningful productivity gains by managers.
141619 -
141620 -      Does it make sense to begin thinking about "knowledge space" to
141621 -      bring the rigor of the architect and engineer to the amorphous
141622 -      field of daily business communications in order to meet the
141623 -      challenges of a new millennia for effective communication.
141624 -
141625 -      Goals are explained at ref SDS 1 2108 and examples of problems
141626 -      solved are at ref SDS 1 0200.
141627 -
141628 -      Cost savings are explained at ref SDS 9 2979.
141629 -
141630 -      Possibly Denis' people who review the NWO... paper can consider
141631 -      how communication mixups, as occurred in this case, can be
141632 -      improved to further improve management and earnings, as cited in
141633 -      the paper. ref OF 2 4038
141634 -
141635 -        [On 980226 IBM announced plans to offer "business intelligence"
141636 -        ref SDS 13 3342]
141637 -
141638 -        [On 980307 Andy Grove's book "Only the Paranoid Survive" says
141639 -        managers need to take copious notes and ask questions to
141640 -        clarify meaning, which is supported by Communication Metrics.
141641 -        ref SDS 15 3668]
141642 -
141643 -        [On 980405 report managers fear accountability from taking
141644 -        copious notes. ref SDS 16 1122]
141645 -
141646 -        [On 980412 CBS 60 Minutes news program broadcast a story on
141647 -        faster information reduces time to think. ref SDS 18 2025]
141648 -
141649 -        [On 980417 example of reduced earnings due to increased
141650 -        operating expenses at firm where executives report not having
141651 -        enough time to think. ref SDS 19 4269]
141652 -
141653 -
141654 -
141655 -
1417 -