Sunday, November 19, 2006

RE: Feedback on Solving the Problem to design an Information System

Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2006 19:54:11 -0800

To: "Mike Eisenberg"
From: Linda Lane
Cc: "Cheryl Metoyer" "Jagadish Yadavadri","Mike Crandall", "Dave Hendry"

Hi Mike,

Thank you - I am very flattered. Thank you for recognizing the validity of this idea and being so encouraging.

Hopefully I'll be appointed as the ASUW liaison to the Faculty Council on Educational Technology and then my lab will be the University of Washington's intelligent information issues. For right now my lab is my cohort.

Several related ideas I have been kicking around with my friend (former Boeing) engineer Brent Barr. I have felt it's best to draw them out slowly so as to be informed by the MSIM program which gives me incentive* to learn to write in an academic style. (*read 'forces')

For your consideration in terms of solving information management problems I refer you to the film "Ronin" staring Robert DeNiro, written by John David Zeik and David Mamet. If you consider it from the point of view of a capable information manager, and think about how to resolve related problems, this film provided me with some ideas.

1. Maintain a full toolkit
2. Survey the situation/ recon
3. Identify the problem and refine it iteratively
4. Don't put yourself at risk, have a clear exit strategy
5. Identify incapable/immoral individuals or orgs and minimize their responsibility and/or capacity to enforce decisions
6. Trust yourself
7. Be quiet
8. Be bold

So that's something I've been excited thinking about. This is related to enthusiasm for transitional processes - strategies for enforced change. In other words how to effectively get people to pivot their belief systems, or invoke belief systems to solve sticky human and technical problems.

Here's four strategies to effect human change:
1. The Anointed:
The Deity of your choice anoints you as the one to solve "the unsolvable" - the unsolvable is of course an illusion.(Religions)
2. The Qualified: [changed to 'The Elite']
You are the best on the planet chosen as the elite to solve this problem (Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, lifted by Microsoft)
3. Special Forces:
Your training is that of the special forces, a spy/warrior who arrives unannounced to resolve the unsolvable. (Ronin)
4. Death
You will solve this problem now or you will die. Solving technical problems in the midst of survival to earn survival.(US Naval Underwater Warfare Command, Navy Seals, CDC / disease and most small businesses)

In addition to these ideas, I am very excited about some human technology business ideas I have directly related to the idea of libraries but use modern companies, which I am certain are worth mucho dinero. Like you I love to interact and welcome any feedback you have.

Cheers!
-Linda

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

My impression is that you have locked into a very important reality.

I did not see the need, personally, to attach the four main paradigms to film or other current archetypes -- but that's just me -- I tend to log onto more archaic archetypes. -- I had not seen the film, but I understood what you were getting at.

I saw that you were reaching into fundamental "religious" convictions or acts or motivating factors, going beyond the designations of any particular belief system. -- The kind of analysis that a truly intelligent person would offer.

Seems like you are working from way high up there, too far for the average person to see or understand -- and that you clearly do understand the way these fundamental motives/drives manifest variously throughout humanity.

In terms of using this paradigm in order to hone dissemination of information through societies -- in the global information network -- you have hit Right On The Head a method of lensing issues, events, and concerns to the masses in a way that can touch the nerves of most everyone.

This lensing has the power to be used for positive ends, such as mutual understanding, sharing, concern for others, tolerance, etc.
There is also The Dark Side, which is that the same methodologies could be used to encourage people to hate, kill, cause war, etc.
There is no intrinsic morality in the understanding of religion as a human motivator.

This leaves the producers and directors the power to use religious intentions and realizations to sway the listening public (eg. Hitler or the Dalai Lama).

From my own point of view, you have locked in on prime values and instantiated the lensing of them. Your basic work needs some refinement. The problem of implementation and motive remain -- it's the old medicine/poison situation. These elements, elementals, fundamentals, are part of the grid, and are -- I suppose -- a fifth element in the paradigm structure you offer.