Acknowledgements
This book is dedicated to the memory of Alice Gannon, a wonderful records manager. We shared a minimalist view of our profession - we agreed we should keep as little as possible, but all of the right things, we should have as few staff as possible, and pay them very well, and we should automate every conceivable task.
At our last lunch together - shortly before she finally lost her battle with an illness that would have felled most of us years ago - she asked me what I was up to. When I told her I was thinking of writing a book with the title, “Thinking for a Living,” she said, “I know what that means.” She went to say, “I tell my boss that I will come up with an idea to save him a million dollars or so every year or so. In the meantime, I expect him to pay me.” Alice was worth every penny she was paid - and I miss having lunch with her.
Thanks go to the many people who endured my exposition of thoughts and ideas that eventually made it into this book. Some who read the manuscript as it developed include Clare Imholtz,, Marilyn Barth and Deb Marshall, three former students and colleagues. These three read a much earlier version of this book and told me to start over. I did . . . and what is here is hopefully better for their honest and brutal (although nicely said) advice. They even had the stamina to come back and read this later version and have said that it is all right if I send it off to the publisher.
Barry Wheeler, my colleague and friend for many years now, made me emphasize that work, if it is thinking work, can only be done for a living if someone else finds it of value. His engineering mind-set managed to wipe out some, but surely not all, of the sections that caused him to say, “I think Rosie Scenario has stepped in.” But then, from my perspective, Barry has always had a much rosier scenario than I have about where this world may be going.
The three years I spent working with the United States Air Force Integrated Digital Environment Project provided the sandbox to play in where I tried out some of my ideas on how to preserve the corporate memory of an organization - and in the process came to the conclusion that managing information is as much about changing work culture as it is about better technologies. Terry Balven, who wrote the appendix for this book, represented the Air Force in this project and provided me the space and encouragement to let my mind go. His constant question, “So if what you say is true, what do we do on Monday morning?” provided a backdrop for all of our work.
I met many wonderful people of all ranks during this project. They are, as the saying goes, too numerous to mention. During my ?rst visit to an Air Force facility - Hanscomb Air Force Base outside Boston, I encountered Harry Pape and we worked closely together throughout the project. Many of the ideas about the importance and possibility to work in the web came from Harry. My early visits to Kirkland Air Force Base in Albuquerque allowed me to work with some very creative persons, including a person I consider a model librarian, Marsha Dreier. The folks at Kirkland struggled with (and sometimes conquered) the task of bringing knowledge management to the Air Force Research Laboratories, said to be the largest research lab in the world. Warner-Robins Air Force Base south of Macon, Georgia, was the place where I got to see, up front and close, the awesome use of technology to manage fleets of complicated flying machines.
My description of the airplane mechanic as a knowledge worker came directly from my visits there. Many people at the sprawling Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton received me with courtesy and opened up their offices and work places. Visits to the Space Center in Los Angeles, the Centers at Edwards Air Force Base in California and Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, and Arnold Air Force Base in Tennessee showed me another whole side of the complex world of applying science to making things. At the Logistics Centers in Oklahoma City and Ogden, Utah I was able to test and confirm my conclusions from Warner-Robins.
I came to what the Air Force calls its acquisition and sustainment community as an outsider and, I am sure, was often regarded as somewhat of a curiosity. The professionalism of those I worked with and their desire to do the best possible job was admirable. In the end, I admired those in the professional military environment, without altering many of my political views that I learned from my pacifist father. During many of the early visits to the facilities, I was accompanied by Major (now Lt. Colonel) Bill Richards, who wore the “Blue Suit” that gave me access to the Air Force world. As we traveled around the country and sat through many frustrating and some enlightening meetings, my respect and dedication for the working Air Force officer mounted. I met Colonel Roc Myers toward the end of the project, but found the insightful research paper he wrote as a Harvard research fellow on Knowledge Marshalling one of the best bits of thought about knowledge management.
And of course, I must mention Andy Nodine who was the last person at Kelly Air Force Base when it closed. I watched him lead the Test Equipment Center over a two year period as they struggled with the practical issues of how to capture a corporate memory and move it to another place. In the meantime, he played a central role in the development of our understanding of a work culture and how it can be transformed. Some of his analysis and advice is contained in Terry Balven's appendix.
In addition to the military professionals, I was able to work with many civilian employees and contractors who provide varied and valuable service to the community. John Rosenfeld introduced me to San Antonio
- the real San Antonio - in our tour of local eateries following days of working together. I was able to see over a period of time, how he built a wonderful work environment in conditions that would only depress most people.
I was fortunate to gather some creative and innovative staff to work on the project. Dave Burnett, who then worked at Dynamics Research Corporation, took a chance by hiring me. Dave introduced me into what was a new world for me and encouraged me to give honest advice. Bob Nawrocki, a leader in the field of records management, and Mary Beth Clarkson, became colleagues on the first IDE team where we worked to invent, sometimes with patience and sometimes with exasperation, a new work culture. Dean Harris, who had been one of my students, in his quiet way made some of the very best observations and analyses of the work situation. Anthony Adamson showed me the practical side of work process reengineering as well as hours of discussion that helped me shape many of the ideas found in this book. Betsy Woods was a regular lunch companion who helped me work my way through the new world I was in. Guy St. Clair played an important role in his six months with the project as we transferred our focus to work culture transformation.
Herb Schantz, the colleague who wrote the Document Management book with me, continues to be one of my closest professional colleague and friend and I was pleased to be able to bring him into the project. We collaborated closely on everything produced by the project and it is impossible to tell which ideas are mine and which are his - except that he thinks like an engineer and I think like a philosopher.
Noel Dickover has introduced me to the concept of Performance Centered Learning Modules and provided many hours of insightful discussion. I look forward to working with him to bring his excellent work to a broader audience.
In addition to giving comments on my manuscript, Charlie Montague, Bill Larsen, and Susan Brown have been helpful by giving me a chance to think through what may be my next career - developing a business where people pay for knowledge work as a product and creating the kind of work culture that will further that work.
John Hodge, a philosopher and friend for many years noticed some obvious errors in the manuscript and gave me many suggestions that may grow into the next book. Rebecca Weiner brought the perspective of an accomplished writer and a business consultant - as well as her friendship and support.
Two other friends, Roger McFadden and Gail Gouvea served as my “general” readers and made helpful comments and suggestions.
Evie Lotze joined the Air Force team as we began to develop the Work Culture Transformation Board. We worked together over the past two years as we brought our two, companion, books to the light of day. It is an honor to be published by the same house and at the same time. Do read her book, Work Culture Transformation.
To my partner of nearly twenty years, Lawrence Tan, I cannot say how much it means that he gave me the personal space to be able to follow my ideas wherever they lead.
And, finally, thanks go to the editor, Geraldine Turpie, for encouraging me to publish this book and for welcoming us to her home near London to bring thoughts to a page. She is a true professional who thinks for a living.