I write quasi-periodically to comment on current happenings in the tech community
& to describe technology trends & their implications. These selections range in
subject from tech trend prediction to descriptions of changes in the structure &
culture of technological organizations. These selections are all from the last several
years, but still relevant.
& to describe technology trends & their implications. These selections range in
subject from tech trend prediction to descriptions of changes in the structure &
culture of technological organizations. These selections are all from the last several
years, but still relevant.
Dog Chases Truck - In January 1994, I was a Consulting Software Engineer at
Digital Equipment working in the Engineering Technical Office for Bob Supnik, at the
time SVP of Engineering. I was fed up with the 'chase the next shiny object' strategy
we had been following & wrote this concise memo to suggest a new path. It's
interesting (to me, at least) for the ephemera of Digital: the VMS file designator, the
DECnet email address & the DTN
Digital Equipment working in the Engineering Technical Office for Bob Supnik, at the
time SVP of Engineering. I was fed up with the 'chase the next shiny object' strategy
we had been following & wrote this concise memo to suggest a new path. It's
interesting (to me, at least) for the ephemera of Digital: the VMS file designator, the
DECnet email address & the DTN
Play & Technological Work - This was first presented as a discussion piece to the
Group for AI & Learning, Knowledge Systems Lab, Stanford University while I was in
residence there (on leave from Digital Equipment) in June of 1987. Not everyone
agreed with me, but it was a good discussion...
Group for AI & Learning, Knowledge Systems Lab, Stanford University while I was in
residence there (on leave from Digital Equipment) in June of 1987. Not everyone
agreed with me, but it was a good discussion...
Are You A Brand? - Upstream Consulting was part of a boutique PR firm (Upstart
Communications) that was bought by Fleischman-Hillard in 1999. We were
bombarded by people who talked about branding all the time. I had just finished a
project with the person who had been brand manager at Coca-Cola & wrote this
short piece to stop some of the chatter.
Communications) that was bought by Fleischman-Hillard in 1999. We were
bombarded by people who talked about branding all the time. I had just finished a
project with the person who had been brand manager at Coca-Cola & wrote this
short piece to stop some of the chatter.
The Art & Science of Attention - Each year Fleischman Hillard would invite John
Rymer (the co-founder of Upstream Consulting) & me to present at their annual
conference. This is the presentation on the science of attention that I made in
1999. Most of the PR executives at the meeting thought I was (... supply
appropriate adjective...)
Rymer (the co-founder of Upstream Consulting) & me to present at their annual
conference. This is the presentation on the science of attention that I made in
1999. Most of the PR executives at the meeting thought I was (... supply
appropriate adjective...)
| Links: Home Career Evolution |
The Interrationship of Organizational Memory & Organizational Stability - I
was working (as the Digital Equipment representative) on the C4 Program at
General Motors in 1992 & 1993. This was a very large effort to produce a paperless
design system across all of GM. Part of the program was an anthropological study
(done by M. Baba & her students, then at Wayne State University) looking at
organizations in GM as separate cultures. As Technical Director for collaboration
systems for the project, I used to results from this study to plan how to have
organizations successfully adopt the new technology we were developing. I also
became very interested in using the tools of cultural anthropology to assess & plan
for technology adoption. This paper (presented at the AAAS meeting in 1993) was
one of several pieces of research I did in cultural antrhopology
was working (as the Digital Equipment representative) on the C4 Program at
General Motors in 1992 & 1993. This was a very large effort to produce a paperless
design system across all of GM. Part of the program was an anthropological study
(done by M. Baba & her students, then at Wayne State University) looking at
organizations in GM as separate cultures. As Technical Director for collaboration
systems for the project, I used to results from this study to plan how to have
organizations successfully adopt the new technology we were developing. I also
became very interested in using the tools of cultural anthropology to assess & plan
for technology adoption. This paper (presented at the AAAS meeting in 1993) was
one of several pieces of research I did in cultural antrhopology
The Implications of Business Communications Convergence - In 2004 I
wrote a pTr Strategist paper on technology trends. The two trends I focused on
were: business communications convergence & application function convergence. I
realized subsequently that these trends were analogs of each other & a subset of a
larger trend - this trend was the convergence of service-based function into
enterprise systems. This presentation documents my thinking on these trends. My
timing is off, (services are still not dominant in enterprise systems) but my thinking
hasn't changed.
wrote a pTr Strategist paper on technology trends. The two trends I focused on
were: business communications convergence & application function convergence. I
realized subsequently that these trends were analogs of each other & a subset of a
larger trend - this trend was the convergence of service-based function into
enterprise systems. This presentation documents my thinking on these trends. My
timing is off, (services are still not dominant in enterprise systems) but my thinking
hasn't changed.
Work Process: Vision & Trends - By 2004, I had been thinking about &
researching work (as opposed to business) process for about ten years. This
presentation, originally presented to the (now defunct) Lateral Alignment in
Complex Systems Group at MIT summarized my thinking on designing systems
to support our evolving work process.
researching work (as opposed to business) process for about ten years. This
presentation, originally presented to the (now defunct) Lateral Alignment in
Complex Systems Group at MIT summarized my thinking on designing systems
to support our evolving work process.
the fight against entropy is not
only difficult, it's nonlinear
only difficult, it's nonlinear