CONTACTS 

SUBJECTS
Meetings Productivity Poor People Assigned to Capture Written Record

0503 -
0503 -    ..
0504 - Summary/Objective
0505 -
050501 - Follow up ref SDS 38 VI9T, ref SDS 37 0000.
050502 -
050503 -
050504 -
050505 -
050506 -
050508 -  ..
0506 -
0507 -
0508 - Progress
0509 -
050901 - People Assigned to Capture of Record Fail to Perform Gary Helps Out
050902 - Giving Up on Productivity of Meetings People Resist Good Communication
050903 - Meeting Productivity People Giving Up on Good Communication Practices
050904 -
050905 - Gary submitted the following recently in an email...
050906 -
050907 -    1.  Subject: Meeting notes
050915 -         ..
050916 -    3.  Just to give you an idea of the magnitude of the problem or
050917 -        keeping an accurate record on the project, here is a portion of
050918 -        my status report for today.
050920 -             ..
050921 -        a.  I got an email from Mark Rie.... suggesting that I might
050922 -            have Action Items from the B1DC review.  I do, but Mark
050923 -            himself had someone recording notes and actions - I was
050924 -            never asked.  I had sent him my notes, but I wasn't
050925 -            tracking things too closely as I hadn't been tasked to do
050926 -            so.
050928 -             ..
050929 -        b.  Dilip doesn't want me to attend meetings "just because I
050930 -            take good notes", but it seems that someone has to.  The
050931 -            idea that the request comes from the person who assigned
050932 -            the task and was in the same room with the person taking
050933 -            notes and actions, and that he can't find them or the ones
050934 -            that I sent him, but that I am expected to be able to do so
050935 -            (and did) seems to indicate that something isn't right.
050937 -  ..
050938 - Gary noted previously that people resist support for intelligence,
050939 - communication, command and control planned to develop C4ISR on the
050940 - project.
050941 -
050942 -     [On 050923 doctor explains error in 2nd opinion came from ignoring
050943 -     actual patient history and, to save time, relying instead on
050944 -     memory of a record or comment, most likely from having read a
050945 -     second hand source listed within the full record of work history,
050946 -     but which itself was erroneous for having, also, ignored work
050947 -     history due to limited time, but, nobody can remember where to
050948 -     find the record or comment to verify accuracy; doctor further
050949 -     notes that the patient tried to get evaluation during the year
050950 -     2003 of episodically expanding inflammation in the left breast,
050951 -     but it took 16 months for the medical team care system to address
050952 -     the actual record of patient history and then perform a biopsy to
050953 -     discover that ignoring prior symptoms caused disgnosis of IBC to
050954 -     be delayed until June of 2004. ref SDS 39 4N5J
050956 -  ..
050957 - On 050702 Gary reported that SDS is only used for meetings, and not
050958 - for performing work that flows from meetings. ref SDS 37 NV4G  Without
050959 - an integrated record of plan, perform, report on the management cycle,
050960 - explained in POIMS, ref OF 6 6649, then intelligence support wains,
050961 - leading to problems cited on 011006. ref SDS 20 O99K  At that time,
050962 - reviewed how a little intelligence goes a long way to lift
050963 - productivity on big projects. ref SDS 20 EL6J
050965 -  ..
050966 - Gary continues...
050967 -
050968 -            This wasn't just another meeting, but a major status
050969 -            briefing / review. That meeting was on 2005-Apr-26, so if
050970 -            they are just now starting to look for the Action Item
050971 -            list, you can imagine how much work has been done on them.
050972 -            Considering that the review required a week or so of
050973 -            preparation by multiple people, it would seem that the
050974 -            Action Items are a major result of the time spent, but
050975 -            apparently not.
050977 -             ..
050978 -        c.  In the SEI meeting, it was suggested that someone take
050979 -            notes on the discussions so that some of the issues raised
050980 -            didn't get lost.  Bruce Mamont asked his deputy to do so,
050981 -            and 1 other person was tasked, but I didn't see any notes
050982 -            being taken, and I doubt that there will be anything done
050983 -            with them if there were.
050985 -  ..
050986 - Failure to capture the record for command and control of the work,
050987 - called out by management standards reviewed on 950721, ref SDS 8
050988 - 1740, and by government regulations that are ignored on the job,
050989 - reported in a study on 020504, ref SDS 23 NS6F, further supports
050990 - Drucker's point that people have given up on communication, reported
050991 - on 931130. ref SDS 3 3851
050993 -  ..
050994 - Gary's report today supports review on 960205 of published studies
050995 - showing people waste 70% of the day in unproductive meetings, because
050996 - nobody follows good management practice to document the record.
050997 - ref SDS 11 5902  Supports Kissinger's worry about poor management
050998 - productivity reported on 940609. ref SDS 5 4238
050999 -
051000 -
051001 -
051002 -
0511 -

SUBJECTS
Focal Gary Assigned Coordinator High Level Meetings to Expedite Prod

1903 -
190401 -  ..
190402 - New Assignment Focal Project Meetings Opportunity Demonstrate SDS
190403 - Productivity Reviews Twice a Week Not Enough Time to Implement Plans
190404 -
190405 - Today, Gary advised that the report on difficulties people experience
190406 - preparing a record of useful organizational memory by writing up
190407 - documentation for meeting minutes, per above, ref SDS 0 PK6Y, reflects
190408 - his new assignment on the project.  Steve recently asked Gary to
190409 - attend meetings twice a week conducted by Andy, and provide
190410 - coordination as the "focal" for his group on managing action items.
190411 - The meetings center on reporting progress based on the project CPM
190412 - schedule.  Evidently Andy's aid, Bruce, also, attends these meetings.
190414 -  ..
190415 - Meeting productivity degrades to entropy, reported in USAFIT study on
190416 - 970707, ref SDS 13 0108, when command and control of the record fails,
190417 - reported at NASA on 9111021. ref SDS 1 4499  NWO explains how meetings
190418 - that are not aligned and confirmed with feedback loops sow the seeds
190419 - of error through meaning drift. ref OF 11 9449  This leads to more
190420 - meetings in hopes of improving communication, but the burden of
190421 - cognitive overhead from constant meetings leaves even less time for
190422 - analysis to work intelligently. ref OF 13 U79H
190424 -  ..
190425 - On 050702 Gary reported that, due in part to limited time, SDS is
190426 - primarily used for meetings, and not so much for performing work that
190427 - relates to the meetings. ref SDS 37 NV4G
190429 -  ..
190430 - Background using SDS on high level meetings for other projects is
190431 - listed on 940901, ref SDS 6 4920, showing how people in big
190432 - organizations are educated to expand use of SDS on major projects.
190434 -  ..
190435 - Gary experienced similar transformation for awhile last year reported
190436 - on 040203, when Bruce asked Gary to attend an important meeting.
190437 - ref SDS 28 NB6G  Earlier, on 030416 Gary reported progress learning
190438 - SDS. ref SDS 26 7P5F  Gary's SDS record on 030413 explained unique
190439 - support for meetings, ref SDS 25 MK4K, citing requirements presented
190440 - by DOD program management for accurate records, reported on 020217.
190441 - ref SDS 22 9360  On 040227 Gary cited frustrations when SDS is not
190442 - available. ref SDS 29 RH6K  Subsequently, the project team, including
190443 - Bruce and Steve, supported approval of SDS for project use, reported
190444 - on 040402. ref SDS 30 LN7T
190446 -  ..
190447 - This record suggests that Bruce may have recommended to Andy that Gary
190448 - attend these new progress meetings, now that the project has moved
190449 - into a production mode, where getting things done has priorty.  That
190450 - analysis fits experience at the Paris Peace Talks in 1919, when
190451 - leaders tried to get things done by conversation, but soon discovered
190452 - they needed accurate understandings, reported on 040505. ref SDS 31
190453 - PRVP
190455 -  ..
190456 - Bruce has similar experience.  He hired Gary and set goals to use good
190457 - management, reported on 030123. ref SDS 24 KT8L  Bruce was aware at
190458 - one time that accurate communication is critical to productivity,
190459 - based on lessons learned reported on 030830. ref SDS 27 TY9H  A year
190460 - or so later, Bruce was elevated to support Andy, however, Gary later
190461 - notified Bruce about SDS support for command, control, intelligence
190462 - and organizational memory, key elements of C4ISR, reported on 040720.
190463 - ref SDS 33 0001  Bruce was therefore positioned to play a constructive
190464 - role to help his boss improve productivity by adding intelligence
190465 - support enabled by SDS. ref OF 12 A56M  Recommending to Steve that
190466 - Gary be assigned to represent the Models and Simulations group in
190467 - Andy's weekly meetings is an easy way to implement C4ISR with better
190468 - communication, as planned on 030123. ref SDS 24 KT93
190470 -  ..
190471 - SDS support for performing the eight (8) steps of Communication
190472 - Metrics listed in POIMS, ref OF 6 685K, is further explained and
190473 - illustrated in the record on 001219. ref SDS 18 QN7S  Recently,
190474 - examples were submitted to Gary showing practice and methods for
190475 - communication, command, control, intelligence, organizational memory,
190476 - etc., which fit objectives for C4ISR on Gary's project, and are
190477 - further defined in NWO. ref OF 12 A56M   The meeting at Kaiser on
190478 - 041230 illustrates advances applying SDS since 1994. ref SDS 35 0001
190480 -  ..
190481 - We discussed today Gary expanding his record, per above, ref SDS 0
190482 - PK6Y, to support SDS foundational documents, including the scenario in
190483 - NWO that explains common problems people suffer that prevent useful
190484 - meetings, and getting things done by over reliance on conversation.
190485 - ref OF 11 5827  An example is the record on 041130 where a
190486 - professional objected to written records confirming conversation.
190487 - ref SDS 34 YR8F  Examples showing some professionals recognize the
190488 - importance of organizational memory include...
190489 -
190490 -        1.  Andy Grove at Intel reviewed on 980307, ref SDS 14 3668,
190492 -             ..
190493 -        2.  Article in Fortune explaining why CEO's fail reviewed on
190494 -            990625. ref SDS 17 7753
190496 -  ..
190497 - Gary indicated that when time permits, he will try to work on
190498 - converting his initial report, today, ref SDS 0 PK6L, into an SDS
190499 - record that illustrates how people waste a lot of time in unproductive
190500 - meetings, reported on 960205. ref SDS 11 5902
190502 -  ..
190503 - So far, Gary's explanation sounded like he is not making distribution
190504 - of the record, which reflects a practice of bad management that
190505 - dominated Paris Peace negotiations in 1919, until people were added to
190506 - support communications. ref SDS 31 TF6T  Gary's letter the other day,
190507 - and shown above, illustrates that some attendees are trying to keep
190508 - records, and not having much luck, like at Paris. ref SDS 0 PK6Y
190509 -
190510 -
190511 -
190512 -
1906 -

SUBJECTS
Communication Metrics SDS Not Used C4ISR Fails 8 Steps Communication
Email Information Overload Not Enough Time to Think Weichman Rochell

7104 -
710501 -  ..
710502 - Email Not Efficient 300 Unopened Email Needle in Haystack
710503 - Information Denisty Overwhelming Management Communication Fails
710504 - Briefing without Documentation Rely on Conversation to Build the Job
710505 -
710506 - Gary's assignment requires briefing Steve on results of meetings,
710507 - rather than submit a professional record of intelligence.  This aligns
710508 - with reporting on 950426 that executive training teaches managers to
710509 - work by conversation. ref SDS 7 4392
710511 -  ..
710512 - Steve like many employees in big organizations receives about 80 email
710513 - a day, and so he does not want another document from Gary that adds to
710514 - the burdens of bureaucracy which stifle productivity and creativity,
710515 - explained on 040203, ref SDS 28 8Y5I, by overwhelming cognitive
710516 - overhead, as explained in NWO. ref OF 13 LH6K  From time-to-time Gary
710517 - has looked over Steve's shoulder and observed the Microsoft Outlook
710518 - email program open on the screen of Steve's computer.  He has seen
710519 - Steve scroll through many, many pages hunting for a letter, which Gary
710520 - or someone might have sent days, weeks or months earlier.  There might
710521 - be 300 or so unopened letters in Steve's email program.  Curiously, on
710522 - 960410 General Hatch reported the same problem having over 300 email
710523 - pending. ref SDS 12 F88F
710524 -
710525 -     [On 060221 Jimmy said he gets so many email at the VA that his
710526 -     directory is full, and he does not have time to read the letters
710527 -     nor to delete anything. ref SDS 40 NT6J
710529 -      ..
710530 -     [On 060408 Gary's analysis on 060222 explains how unread email
710531 -     piling up on computers drives people to reliance on personal
710532 -     memory that drives management toward mistakes, bumbling, entropy.
710533 -     ref SDS 41 6O6O, and supported by case study showing people giving
710534 -     up on good management, ref SDS 41 PV4O, and further citing this
710535 -     record. ref SDS 41 NZ41
710537 -  ..
710538 - This example supports concern that communication fails due to
710539 - information density, and fits the scenario Gary cites in his letter
710540 - today, per above. ref SDS 0 PK6Y  On 931130 Drucker reports people are
710541 - giving up on communication. ref SDS 3 3851  Research in HBR makes the
710542 - same point:  people are not reading and answering email. reviewed on
710543 - 940510. ref SDS 4 5567
710544 -
710545 -     [On 070729 filing everything miscellaneous growing trend to
710546 -     give up on communications and ignore context management
710547 -     that helps people work intelligently finding critical
710548 -     details to construct connections in time to make the power
710549 -     of knowledge effective for saving lives, time, and money.
710550 -     ref SDS 42 HE6N
710552 -      ..
710553 -     [On 080318 people still cannot find information on computers for
710554 -     getting things done, ref SDS 43 0R45, after using search
710555 -     technology with indexing. ref SDS 43 0R6G
710557 -  ..
710558 - On 951214 Rochelle Weichman with the Sloan School of Management at MIT
710559 - was singled out for diligence because "she reads her email," a
710560 - practice seen as extremely rare. ref SDS 10 I741  Earlier on 950927
710561 - Dave Vannier reported that email is the least effective business
710562 - system at Intel, ref SDS 9 5849, and noted that information density
710563 - overloads executives and engineers. ref SDS 9 E93K
710565 -  ..
710566 - Morris is trying to invest time for opening letters on getting things
710567 - done, and responding every day, rather than allow unanswered
710568 - correspondence to build up; this improves prior practice on 960325 and
710569 - on 960721, reported on 980722 ref SDS 15 HQ7L  Later on 980927 he
710570 - explained that people have largely stopped following good management
710571 - practices. ref SDS 16 0714  His responses are sometimes cursory and
710572 - only address one of many issues, which further reflects limited span
710573 - of attention due to information density.  The problem of limited time
710574 - simply forces people to make bad choices, and creates bad habits, such
710575 - that even when plenty of time is available it gets consumed playing
710576 - games, watching television, or being interviewed on television rather
710577 - than investing intellectual capital.
710579 -  ..
710580 - This raises the question about disposition of documents Steve and
710581 - others on the project are getting.  If documents are being ignored,
710582 - negative synergy discourages people from sending documents, as Gary
710583 - reports today?  This appears conflicting with project requirements to
710584 - deliver "documents." Moreover, if people are not opening correpondence
710585 - critical to the project, then people responsible for getting things
710586 - done will stop sending correspondence, and work more by conversation,
710587 - as Gary reports.  This creates a self-fulfilling prophecy, because
710588 - then the only email people get will be peripheral to the mission,
710589 - which increases reluctance to open anything.
710591 -  ..
710592 - Soon, communications and understanding are driven only by talk and
710593 - remembering the gist of the story.  Andy Grove points out in his book
710594 - reviewed on 980307 that memory of mental maps is awfully forgiving of
710595 - errors. ref SDS 14 3668  Negative synergy drives negative attitudes
710596 - that destroy productivity in a morass of mistakes and finger pointing;
710597 - soon, a "house of cards" simply collapses, like Enron, reported on
710598 - 020204. ref SDS 21 4N6F  Review on 970707 shows that USAFIT published
710599 - a study showing productivity devolves to entropy when information
710600 - density overwhelms limited span of attention. ref SDS 13 0108
710601 -
710602 -     [On 020504 study shows professional standards for communication
710603 -     practices and requirements on good management specified in FAR,
710604 -     ISO, Health Care, Covey, Drucker, law, contract notice provisions,
710605 -     and 2,000 years of literacy for contemporaneous documentation for
710606 -     alignment and feedback to work intelligently, quickly, and
710607 -     accurately are ignored in government, business, health care, every
710608 -     sector. ref SDS 23 NS6F
710610 -      ..
710611 -     [On 060221 medical manager gets so many email at the VA that
710612 -     directory is full; not enough time to read patient communication,
710613 -     to nor to delete anything to make room in email directory; wants
710614 -     to rely on verbal communication. ref SDS 40 NT6J
710616 -  ..
710617 - So far, Gary has tried to meet with Steve to brief him on results of
710618 - several meetings, but Steve has not had time to meet.
710620 -  ..
710621 - We discussed this morning the risk that when Andy asks Steve about
710622 - something that requires follow up, and Steve says... "Oh, Gary hasn't
710623 - said anything to me about it."
710625 -  ..
710626 - What should be happening, is that Gary prepares the record for Bruce.
710627 - He and Bruce do a review, check with others by telephone for near-term
710628 - feedback and clarification, as needed, and then Bruce makes
710629 - distribution under Steve's name, so that the record has the weight of
710630 - authority to drive performance.  Since there are two meetings a week,
710631 - this is very short turnaround time.  Probably, there should be only
710632 - one record per week to cover both meetings, otherwise there becomes a
710633 - blizzard of documentation that compounds the "fog of war."
710635 -  ..
710636 - Actually, for reporting on two (2) meetings a week, all that can be
710637 - done is to capture the chronology.  Adding intelligence probably
710638 - should be done at a higher level.
710640 -  ..
710641 - We talked today about setting up a template to reduce the time
710642 - required for organization, as was done at Kaiser, illustrated by the
710643 - record on 050329, showing several record segments report no activity
710644 - on some subjects. ref SDS 36 RZ4I
710645 -
710646 -
710647 -
710648 -
7107 -

SUBJECTS
Visibility SDS Official Project Record Documentation Minutes for Mee

7403 -
7404 - 1057
740501 -  ..
740502 - Burnout Quality Organizational Memory at Risk Too Many Meetings
740503 - Visibility SDS Official Records for Meetings with Northrup Gruman
740504 - Meetings Too Many 3 Per Week for Gary Risks Overwork Quality Suffers
740505 -
740506 - Follow up ref SDS 32 M46W.
740507 -
740508 - Called Gary this morning on another matter, and related having been
740509 - given another new assignment to produce SDS records for meetings with
740510 - Northrup Gruman.  This was an assignment by Steve, rather than Dilip.
740511 - Gary seemed to indicate this assignment reflects broader visibility
740512 - and awareness on the project of Gary's ability to support meetings
740513 - with SDS, as reported on 040203. ref SDS 28 NB6G
740515 -  ..
740516 - Previously, on 040618 there was concern about only one person
740517 - producing organizational memory would overwork Gary, ref SDS 32 M44Y,
740518 - this creates a lot of stress using SDS, as reported on 010725.
740519 - ref SDS 19 03M6  At that time, on 040618 Gary arranged for others to
740520 - provide the record of most meetings, so that he would not experience
740521 - burnout due to overwork producing effective intelligence. ref SDS 32
740522 - M46W
740523 -
740524 -
740525 -
740526 -
7406 -

SUBJECTS
FAR Requirements for Combat Improvement Project

8903 -
890401 -  ..
890402 - FAR Requirements for Combat Improvement Project
890403 -
890404 - Gary also mentioned that the project is now governed by FAR, which
890405 - means requirements for accurate records are effective, reported on
890406 - 020504. ref SDS 23 XV7L
890408 -  ..
890409 - The scenario in Gary's letter, per above, ref SDS 0 PK6Y, could be
890410 - edited for clarity and application to support the case study showing
890411 - that without SDS, compliance with FAR requirements is problematic.
890412 - ref SDS 23 NS6F
890413 -
890414 -
890415 -
890416 -
890417 -
890418 -
890419 -
890420 -
8905 -