From: Wayne To: Maggie Sent: Thursday, December 23, 1999 12:31 PM Subject: Request for ftp authorization and my response..... Maggie: I have never been an individual who has "pulled punches"; so I'm going to say what I believe needs to be said. I have never been one to be concerned with titles and positions or who gets recognition, just that the mission of the organization gets accomplished. What is the mission of this new project? Some are beginning to wonder if it is getting the Archives name "ahead" of the Census project name. Perceptions are reality to those who have the perceptions. What must I do to get someone to notice the fact that many state coordinators are upset and confused over the handling of the webpages? Having taught change management for years, I readily see all phases of acceptance or resistance to change. We have cooridinators from both projects confused as to how to do their job. The transition of the processes that get work accomplished in the project need to undertaken in small steps not one major step. The effect of the one major step approach is confusion without knowledge of reason. Those affected by the change do not know what has happened, only that a change has happened and they do not know why or by whom. People can adapt to change only so fast. I use the example of the boiled frog. If you were to put a frog into a boiling pot of water, the immediate response for the frog is to react and try to remove itself from the boiling water. Another approach is to acclimate the frog to gradual temperature changes, before long the water is boiling and the frog does not react. The "routine" is to stay in the water, so that is what happens. I hope you can see the point I am trying to make. I am trying extremely hard to coordinate the actions of the state coordinators but I do not have the assets at hand to do so. The ftp authorization is a prime example. I don't think there is any need for someone to "relay" information. More people involved in the communication process only allows more opportunities for miscommunicating and adds no value to the end product. It would be easier for folks who want changes to the Archives pages to contact him directly. It is easier and quicker for the project as a whole if a team of individuals get both sets of pages corrected in one motion rather than "passing" requests to the next individual who controls only one small portion. I want you to know that personally I find your response about "security reasons" quite offensive. That's ok, because I've learned to be thick skinned, and I don't believe you intentionally meant to do it. For the sake of the merger, I am trying to keep my personal feelings seperate from those about the project. Who is the "we" you are referring to? The language of our conversations has got to stop referring to the individual projects and the assets associated with them. Are we one organization operating for the common good of all parts or two organizations trying to maintain individual indenties? In my military ocupation, I am responsible for helping administrate a 1200 user LAN which is the backbone for a major repair facility. My organization supports the actions of repair technicans and money management personnel whose decisions affect national security. Our organization's budget exceeded 200 million dollars in the past fiscal year. I can be trusted with passwords controlling that network and not one which has archived information concerning genealogy? Something is amiss here. I think Ron and Connie can state that I have NEVER wandered beyond my scope of responsibility or understanding. That is a cardinal rule of Information Technology professionals! I consider myself a professional in that realm. I will take the time later today and over the Christmas period to write a position description for the liaison coordinator. It will include scope of responsibility as well as the tools and assets required to carry out that responsibility. I will map the processes so that everyone involoved in the project merger can agree to them. In closing, I want to say that I am deeply dedicated to creating a project that intends to help the public through its goals of providing genealogy information at no cost. I remain confident that everyone involved is trying to do the "right things" to make this a reality. Our communication process and coordination need polishing. We need to put forth a plan of action and milestones to be accomplished into writing; agree to it, and execute that plan. It has taken me over ninety minutes to draft this. Hope I've put my feelings into understandable words. Did not want to be rash; but rather wanted to make a level headed approach at discussing my concerns. Feel free to call me. My telephone number is x or y. The "door" is always open! Hope to hear from you soon. Sincerely, Wayne Duncan