CONTACTS 
0201 - Project Management Institute
020101 - Mr. Reservations
020102 - Engineer's Club (415 421 3184)

SUBJECTS
SDS Marketing, Attend Seminars, Conferences
Computer Shows/Seminars
Project Planning & Oversight
Project Management, Fundamentals & Overview
Seminar in Seattle, 1989
Contract Disputes

0908 -
0908 -    ..
0909 - Summary/Objective
0910 -
091001 - Follow up ref SDS 3 0001, ref SDS 2 0001.
091002 -
091003 - Attended workshop on using CPM and similar control tools.  Ideas on
091004 - the level of detail for effective planning.
091005 -
091006 -
091008 -  ..
0911 -
0912 -
0913 - Analysis
0914 -
091401 - More work is needed on activity scope and range.
091402 -
091403 - One participant indicated that schedules should not "micro manage" the
091404 - project.  If 40% of the work is scheduled, this is adequate.  How does
091405 - one know which 40% to schedule?  This comment was made in conjuction
091406 - with scheduling the manufacture of large equipment offsite.  The
091407 - scheduler indicated a contractor cannot control a large manufacturer
091408 - anyway, so an activity like "fabricate and deliver turbine" should
091409 - have no further detail, even though it may be a $10M contract that
091410 - requires 6 to 12 months.
091412 -  ..
091413 - Another example is the Broadwater Dam project where Kurt Schultz said
091414 - during the meeting with DNRC Director on Gracon's claim for a time
091415 - extension:
091416 -
091417 -     "We never thought the Spillway contract could be critical,"
091418 -     ref SDS 1 4367
091420 -      ..
091421 -     But see also analysis of why contractor might be liable or avoid
091422 -     responsibility. ref SDS 1 IF5O
091423 -
091424 -
091425 -
0915 -

SUBJECTS
Project Management, Fundamentals & Overview
Leadership & Change, 930119
Executive Training, 930726
PMBOK
Subject Indexing, Communications, Information Management
Organization Saves Money Avoid Mistakes Killer App
Decision Support Information Context Organize Augment Intelligence
Organize Context Augment Intelligence Enhances Competence Avoid Mista

1810 -
181101 -  ..
181102 - PMI Body of Knowledge
181103 - Changes in performance of management tasks
181104 -
181105 - One topic not discussed by anyone during the seminar today was the
181106 - manager's responsibility to organize daily information from calls,
181107 - meetings and documents in managing the project.  This is a process of
181108 - organizing project "knowledge."
181110 -  ..
181111 - Organizing the record of daily information is difficult to perform,
181112 - but vital to good management of complex projects.
181113 -
181114 -      [On 970707 management degrades to entropy because continual
181115 -      information from meetings, calls, and documents increases
181116 -      complexity that overwhelms management; people rely on remembering
181117 -      the gist of the story causing continual bumbling that eventually
181118 -      reaches critical mass and explodes with loss of lives, time, and
181119 -      money. ref SDS 16 0108
181121 -       ..
181122 -      [On 000709 SDS organizes information for context that augments
181123 -      human intelligence. ref SDS 21 1029
181125 -  ..
181126 - This knowledge is implicit (also tacit) in every aspect of management,
181127 - but is generally not addressed directly with the result that
181128 - communications, information management, and decision making are highly
181129 - fractious.
181131 -  ..
181132 - Since knowledge and information are organic, the primary responsiblity
181133 - of management is to determine the level of detail, i.e., organic
181134 - subject structure, needed for effective communication and decision
181135 - making on the project.  Each project has a structure of its own that
181136 - requires careful analysis to craft indexing structures for subjects
181137 - that best fit project requirements.  An example performing this
181138 - function is the CPM schedule.  Another is the Cost Control account
181139 - code structure.  A third is the list of folders maintained in the
181140 - filing cabinet.  These need to be synthasized, accounts defined, and
181141 - procedures developed for implementation and making changes.
181143 -  ..
181144 - What is the difference between function and subject?
181146 -  ..
181147 - What is the structure of the work environment and is it adequate for
181148 - the kinds of activity performed by each staff member.  Who needs
181149 - deskspace and storage, who needs telephone, fax, copy, and DP
181150 - support?
181152 -  ..
181153 - How does the work of each person correlate to that of others.  What
181154 - mechanisms exist to evaluate this and make adjustments?
181156 -  ..
181157 - Management needs to be asking:
181158 -
181159 -     What information do we need to make a decision, and how quickly
181160 -     can it be obtained?
181162 -  ..
181163 - Second we need to know what has been done and why.  Often actions
181164 - that are quite reasonable appear incorrect in retrospect because the
181165 - context is not apparent or the situation was complex.  If the
181166 - reasoning is available, then a better decision will evince from the
181167 - process.
181168 -
181169 -
181170 -
1812 -

SUBJECTS
Attitude Prevents Constructive Change
Executive Training, 930726
Executives Skills Retool Learn to Type as Middle Managers Prepare fo
Executive Challenge, Self Dialog
Arrogance of Power, Executives Can Challenge Themselves with SDS
Seattle Seminar, 890513
Typing Executives Retool Skills Learn to Type as Middle Managers Pre
Hierarchy Causes Hubris by Shielding Complaints

3710 -
3711 - Changes in performance of management tasks
371201 -  ..
371202 - The theme of the symposium was:
371203 -
371204 -
371205 -               Creative leadership into the Future
371206 -
371208 -  ..
371209 - Feel Good Management Top People Do Whatever They Feel Like
371210 - Typing Executives Will Need Begin Learning as Middle Managers
371211 - New Realities Middle Managers Learn to Type for Executive Skills
371212 - Executives Will Need Typing Skill Begin Learning as Middle Managers
371213 -
371214 - This theme was cited by the opening day keynote speaker, Doctor Mike
371215 - Little, a Boeing group vice president.  He talked at length about the
371216 - need for managers to improve their skills applying automated systems
371217 - because that is the wave of the future.
371219 -  ..
371220 - At the conclusion of formal remark's, during Q&A, I asked for specific
371221 - changes being implemented at Boeing, or under consideration, to meet
371222 - new realities of the future that paralyze productivity with
371223 - information overload.  What skills do executives need to meet this
371224 - new challenge presented by Doctor Little?
371226 -  ..
371227 - Doctor Little paused to think, and then said...
371228 -
371229 -
371230 -          "Top managers do whatever they want.  Middle level managers
371231 -          should be learning to type in order to be prepared for
371232 -          coming change from greater use of computers.
371234 -  ..
371235 - Mike described growing use of fax and Email at Boeing.  He feels this
371236 - presents a huge problem of information density that overwhelms people
371237 - trying to find critical details, like trying to find a "needle in a
371238 - haystack" of daily working information in constant meetings, calls and
371239 - documents.  He said that these days, information just never stops, but
371240 - people need time to think, organize, and plan.
371242 -  ..
371243 - Mike explained that Boeing focus is changing to technologies that help
371244 - executives and managers with decision support.  They call designing
371245 - for better management "information architecture," and have begun to
371246 - invest heavily in this area to strengthen competitiveness.
371247 -
371248 -      [...below, another conference attendee describes burden of
371249 -      cognitive overhead presented by 90% of time required for
371250 -      communication, causing continual mistakes. ref SDS 0 4896
371252 -       ..
371253 -      [On 910908 these ideas were used in seeking to publish an article
371254 -      on POIMS technology at ref SDS 7 3077]
371256 -       ..
371257 -      [On 940611 PMI Asilomar Conference on changing management
371258 -      practice, called "paradigms" cited this record. ref SDS 10 3077]
371260 -       ..
371261 -      [On 950705 telecon with Morris on professional development events
371262 -      for PMI on Management Communications, ref SDS 13 2165.]
371264 -       ..
371265 -      [On 960201 Bruce explained ideas Boeing is developing for an
371266 -      architecture for knowledge management. ref SDS 15 T46J
371268 -       ..
371269 -      [On 990625 Fortune article reports that "psyche" prevents CEOs
371270 -      from executing good management practice. ref SDS 20 4914]
371272 -       ..
371273 -      [On 950202 Beoing was cited as an having reached "maturity" in
371274 -      project management by writing a diary of "lessons learned" after
371275 -      project completion. ref SDS 11 8447
371277 -       ..
371278 -      [On 990312 Dave Clark explains progress at Boeing on developing
371279 -      advanced information architectures. ref SDS 19 8F9N
371281 -  ..
371282 - A lecture on future trends in management turned out to address the
371283 - humanistic tasks in managing which is very important, but is by no
371284 - means a "new" trend.
371285 -
371286 -
371287 -
371288 -
3713 -

SUBJECTS
Personnel, Training, Management, Automated Management
Management productivity & Teamwork
Information Management; Wordperfect Office
Learning; Correlation to accepted practice and
Disallusioned by Technology, Credibility
Resist Learning Beyond Wordprocessing and Spreadsheets
Grove, Andy Valley of Death Overcoming Resistance to New Idea Changin
Engineers Resist Changing Work Practices, 000413
Communication 90% Management Time Computers Not Very Helpful Executi

7011 -
701201 -  ..
701202 - Changes in Performance of Management Tasks
701203 -
701204 - Had an interesting discussion during lunch with Tom, a young executive
701205 - for a major contractor/Engineering firm.  Tom explained frustrations
701206 - trying to use Wordperfect, Lotus 123, and a Scheduling program in
701207 - combination to improve and implement good management practice.
701208 -
701209 -     [On 940522 article on Enterprise Management recognizes a critical
701210 -     mass of tools have to be "integrated," in order to improve
701211 -     management. ref SDS 9 8973]
701213 -  ..
701214 - Tom said about 90% of his time is involved with communication, so he
701215 - has tried to use the computer to keep track of everything.  He
701216 - explained the many steps required by his present technology and work
701217 - practices to find and correlate understandings within a time frame
701218 - that makes it practical to use them during the course of a busy day.
701220 -  ..
701221 - Tom tries to keep track of meetings, calls and analysis, and relate it
701222 - to formal correspondence, to ensure consistent application of
701223 - management decisions.  Tom said events take place too fast for him to
701224 - do this, so the system just consumes time, without returning any
701225 - meaningful reward.
701226 -
701227 -     [On 940522 Enterprise Workflow new solution, ref SDS 8 0453; past
701228 -     failures cause caution. ref SDS 8 7399]
701230 -      ..
701231 -     [On 890809 Morris 80% time on communications, ref SDS 5 8812
701233 -      ..
701234 -     [On 900904 failure of market to meet need for integrated tools to
701235 -     improve management, makes people disbelieve SDS. ref SDS 6 4972]
701237 -      ..
701238 -     [970829 book on managing says communication primary process of
701239 -     management, ref SDS 17 6666.]
701241 -  ..
701242 - Tom likes wordprocessing for improving writing by making editing fast
701243 - and easy, and he likes spreadsheet programs for making numerical
701244 - analysis fast and easy, but feels this does not translate into better
701245 - "management" which requires connecting up analysis of what is written
701246 - and calculated over time to show cause and effect from experience.  He
701247 - wants a way to get correlations and implications about understandings,
701248 - but so far has been unable to do this using the computer, so he has
701249 - given up using the computer for management.
701250 -
701251 -      [On 950927 Intel gave up using computers for management.
701252 -      ref SDS 14 7732
701254 -  ..
701255 - We discussed SDS support for management called out in POIMS.
701256 - ref OF 1 6221
701258 -  ..
701259 - Tom feels that since it took a lot of time, and was very difficult, to
701260 - learn wordprocessing and spreadsheets, he feels disillusioned about
701261 - investing more time because there is less faith to learn another
701262 - technology, without credible proof of cost savings, since all of the
701263 - time it took to learn wordprocessing and spreadsheets has not paid off
701264 - in better management.
701266 -       ..
701267 -      [On 950223 Morris reported faith to use technology for management
701268 -      requires life experience like Rod. knowledge. ref SDS 12 3003
701270 -       ..
701271 -      [On 980307 Andy Grove explains people like to work on familiar
701272 -      things in familiar ways, deny change in work environment creates
701273 -      new realities that prevent existing skills that brought past
701274 -      success from continuing to be useful, and so requires acquiring
701275 -      new skills to use new tools. ref SDS 18 0502
701276 - ..
701277 - I did not explain why a different tool like SDS is needed to
701278 - provide a spreadsheet for knowledge that makes the computer an
701279 - operating system for people and organizations.
701280 -
701281 -
701282 -      This shows the recognition of the need to integrate as well as
701283 -      automate a range of business practices, i.e., SDS is on the right
701284 -      track.
701286 -       ..
701287 -      It also shows the reluctance of those who have struggled with
701288 -      learning popular software programs, to give up their investment
701289 -      to learn something new.
701290 -
701291 -
701292 -
701293 -
701294 -
701295 -
701296 -
7013 -
7014 -