CONTACTS 
0201 - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers         202 761 0011
020101 - Mr. James Lovo; Chief, CEMP-EC =202 761 4804 fax 4783
020102 - Construction and Design Branch, CEMP-EC

SUBJECTS
COE Evaluation Communication Metrics
USACE CESPN CSB Review
Wider Use Communication Metrics
Experience, Need Broader Base
District Support
Denial Managers Making Mistakes Reject
Information Entropy Failed Management
Information Overload
Murphy's Law, Avoiding Mistakes
Reality Forces Mistakes into Span of
Information Highway Overhwhelms Span of
Bumbling Comedy of Errors, Guess Gossip
Productivity Reduced by Information Highway, Need Specialists
Mistakes Increase on Information Highway, Need Metrics
Information Overload Costs Money Downsizing Too Many Problems

2417 -    ..
2418 - Summary/Objective
2419 -
241901 - Follow up ref SDS 43 0000, ref SDS 42 0000.
241902 -
241903 - Sent CEMP-EC report to CESPN.  Requested follow up by CEMP-EC due to
241904 - snafu, and reviewed why cost of Communication Metrics is significant
241905 - because it is so little in relation to savings.
241906 -
241907 -    [On 990129 got list enclosures to CEMP-EC report. ref SDS 45 0000]
241908 -
241909 -    [On 990304 Jim issued follow up. ref SDS 50 7392]
241910 -
241911 -
2420 -
2421 -
2422 - Progress
2423 -
242301 -  ..
242302 - Submitted HQUSACE Report to CESPN to Solve Communication Snafu
242303 -
242304 - Per Max's request, ref SDS 43 4826, submitted letter, ref DIT 1 0000,
242305 - with link to reports issued by CEMP, ref DRP 16 0000, which were
242306 - received yesterday. ref SDS 43 3402  Sent copy to Jim, Bob and to Tom
242307 - Keesling.
242308 -
242309 -     [On 990128 Max received CEMP's reports. ref SDS 44 4361]
242310 -
242311 -
242312 -  ..
242313 - Request Follow Up and Clarification of HQUSACE Report
242314 -
242315 - Sent ref DIT 2 0000 to Jim Lovo asking about follow up with Ed at the
242316 - Information Management Directorate, per discussion with Jim yesterday,
242317 - ref SDS 43 4284, and the snafu in making distribution that warrants
242318 - checking to see if the report has been received by the Information
242319 - Management people. ref SDS 43 4368
242320 -
242321 - Also asked at ref DIT 2 6930 about "significance" of cost and savings
242322 - reviewed yesterday. ref SDS 43 3402  See below. ref SDS 0 5655
242323 -
242324 -     [On 990208 sent follow up. ref SDS 47 0000]
242325 -
242326 -  ..
2424 -
2425 -
2426 - 1353 called Jim
2427 -
242701 - Communication Snafus Frustrate Management
242702 - Information Overload Causes Continual Mistakes and Bumbling
242703 -
242704 - Thanked Jim for the report, and explained having submitted a letter to
242705 - him, ref DIT 2 0000, per above. ref SDS 0 7040
242706 -
242707 - We considered the advantage of calling Ed to see if CEMP-EC's report
242708 - has been received by the Directorate of Information Management, as we
242709 - discussed yesterday. ref SDS 43 4284  The snafu with distribution
242710 - heightens the need for timely follow up with Ed.
242711 -
242712 -     [On 990208 sent follow up. ref SDS 47 0000]
242713 -
242714 -     [On 990222 Jim followed up with Ed. ref SDS 48 1140]
242715 -
242716 - Jim was disappointed about the snafu.  He said that Bob Gordon will be
242717 - in the office tomorrow and Jim will ask him to send the report out
242718 - again so that Max gets it.
242719 -
242720 - I advised that Max asked me to forward the report, ref SDS 43 4826,
242721 - and so I have already done that, per above, ref SDS 0 3960, and I sent
242722 - a copy of the transmittal letter to Jim and to Bob so they can see
242723 - this has been accomplished.
242724 - ..
242725 - Jim expressed frustration about continual small mistakes that
242726 - should not occur if adequate diligence is applied.  He commented about
242727 - sharing today's experience with his wife when he gets home this
242728 - evening.
242729 -
242730 - On 950327 snafus grow into big problems everywhere. ref SDS 3 0200
242731 -
242732 - On 951031 snafus frustrate executives in all fields. ref SDS 5 0896
242733 -
242734 - We recalled Jim's point about the need to solve information overload
242735 - set out in his memo on Communication Metrics, ref DRP 16 2520, which
242736 - is reviewed yesterday, ref SDS 43 7370, and was considered on 981218
242737 - for avoiding continual small mistakes that grow into very big
242738 - problems, ref SDS 33 3696, due to information entropy reviewed on
242739 - 970707. ref SDS 14 0611
242740 -
242741 - Information overload makes management a process of continual bumbling,
242742 - a comedy of errors, more commonly called "problem handling" and
242743 - "expediting" explained on 970707. ref SDS 13 0108
242744 -
242745 - Adding "intelligence" to information maintains alignment that avoids
242746 - snafus which frustrate management. ref OF 1 0582
242747 -
242748 - Deliverying "intelligence" on the Internet improves productivity, as
242749 - Jim noted on 981119. ref SDS 25 2272
242750 -
242751 - Example on 970624, ref SDS 11 8445, and on 950327 numerous examples
242752 - across industry sectors, all show significant opportunity to improve
242753 - earnings and reduce costs. ref SDS 4 0200
242754 -
242755 - Humorous example from military on 970624. ref SDS 12 7006
242756 -
242757 -      [On 990204 Op Planning to reduce management levels will increase
242758 -      complexity of communication. ref SDS 46 6448]
242759 -
242760 -      [On 990204 discussed IBM's "business intelligence" as a means to
242761 -      avoid mistakes caused by information overload. ref SDS 46 4719]
242762 -
242763 -      [On 990303 cause information entropy derives from basic limits on
242764 -      the human mind processing information. ref SDS 49 6120]
242765 -
242766 -  ..
242767 - Common Sense Begins with Accurate Record
242768 - Communication Metrics Yielded Significant Savings for Little Cost
242769 -
242770 - Reviewed idea in my letter today on discussing with Information
242771 - Management Directorate why the cost of Communication Metrics is
242772 - significant, ref DIT 2 6930, per analysis on 990126. ref SDS 43 3402
242773 -
242774 - Jim emphasized that, coming from South Dakota, his memo takes a common
242775 - sense, practical view that accomplishing something important and
242776 - valuable, like adding intelligence to management, adding useful
242777 - metrics to communication, or however else one might explain the task
242778 - of improving management, it all takes significant effort.
242779 -
242780 - He feels that regardless of the limited expense incurred by the San
242781 - Francisco District, expanding use of Communication Metrics throughout
242782 - USACE would entail significant cost.
242783 -
242784 -     [On 990128 Max Blodgett at CESPN drew from CEMP-EC report that
242785 -     Communication Metrics is not cost effective. ref SDS 44 4361]
242786 -
242787 - I concurred that it is a big job.  Jim's frustration about continual
242788 - snafus, ref SDS 0 7399, reflects the exponential growth in complexity
242789 - of daily management communications that degrade into chaos, reported
242790 - by the U.S. Air Force study reviewed on 970707. ref SDS 15 0611
242791 -
242792 - The CIA spends a lot of money making a significant effort, as Jim
242793 - cites, to gather and provide useful intelligence.  Communication
242794 - Metrics uses technology so that good intelligence can be produced for
242795 - less cost, as reported by USACE - CESPN on 970328. ref DRP 1 2022
242796 -
242797 - It is also a big job to overcome denial.
242798 -
242799 - Common sense should begin with facts, as reviewed in the NWO paper.
242800 - ref OF 2 4235
242801 -
242802 - Communication Metrics cost the government less than $50K, and actual
242803 - and estimated savings are in the range of $500K, as shown in Jim's
242804 - report. ref DRP 15 0833  That is significant, as reviewed yesterday.
242805 - ref SDS 43 3402
242806 -
242807 - Another painful, if immutable, fact is that greater diligence is not
242808 - likely a way of avoiding problems that give rise to cost savings by
242809 - Communication Metrics.  Diligence is hampered by information overload,
242810 - as seen by the record here. ref SDS 43 3402  Information overload will
242811 - grow unless action is taken to solve it, as cited in CEMP-EC's report.
242812 - ref DRP 16 2520
242813 -
242814 - Common sense further says that if significant savings result from
242815 - limited use, expand the use to see if the savings can be expanded, as
242816 - set out in analysis on 981218. ref SDS 33 3600
242817 -
242818 - We need not set about calculating the cost of applying Communication
242819 - Metrics worldwide until we gather a little more experience by scaling
242820 - up the application.
242821 -
242822 - Common sense was reviewed on 900303, as predicated on connections in
242823 - the subconscious mind (e.g., gut feeling) that produce paradigms or
242824 - mental templates from experience about how the world usually works.
242825 - ref SDS 1 5443
242826 -
242827 -
242828 -
242829 -
2429 -