William P Hall President Kororoit Institute Proponents and Supporters Assoc Inc httpkororoitorg williamhallbigpondcom httpwwworgsevolutionknowledgenet Access my research papers supporting the book from ID: 734753
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Preface—Application Holy Wars theme and why the book was written
William P. HallPresidentKororoit Institute Proponents and Supporters Assoc., Inc. - http://kororoit.orgwilliam-hall@bigpond.comhttp://www.orgs-evolution-knowledge.net
Access my research papers supporting the book from Google CitationsSlide2
OverviewThreads from my history and professional careerGrowing up on a boat amongst the diversity of marine life
Engineering, physics & biophysicsZoology, trophic ecology, genetics & evolutionary biologyHistory & philosophy of science: epistemology & revolutionsGenerations of computer technologyDocumentation, computer literacy & technical communicationState of the art engineering content & knowledge mgmtQuestions arising: Bank of Melb. & Tenix DefenceRoles of computers & documentation in corporate successIncommensurable paradigms as barriers to understandingComputerization and application holy warsWhat is knowledgeWhat is life
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My childhood:marine diversity & aerospace engineering
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Early influencesFather trained as a geologist & worked as an industrial engineer in defence aerospace industryMother trained as a chemist
As a child I had easy access to their old textbooksFamily lived on a boat in Southern California & we spent many weekends & holidays at Catalina IslandSpent much of my time watching life in the waterA photographer neighbour gave me a couple of good microscope objective lensesLearned more from high school science club than classes excepting high school biologyAspired to build spaceships and go to the stars!4No sound,When readyclick nextSlide5
My childhood:marine diversity & aerospace engineering
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University physics then zoology1957 – UCLA physics for 2½ yrs – but dyslexic
Changed to zoology but still flunked out after 4 yrsExtracurricular computer studies in calculus courseThermodynamics / zoology / natural history / animal behaviourWorked 2+ yrs in neurophysiology research labEventually graduated with BS in zoology (1964)Trophic ecology / marine biology / herpetology / genetics15 months as ecology research technician on the nuclear test site in Nevada exploring chromosome variation in lizards2 years’ masters work at new universityLecturer: general biology / invertebrate zoology
Assistant: comparative vertebrate anatomyContinued studies of chromosome variation in lizardsWashington University courses in genetics/evolutionHall, W.P. [1966]. Is the Plastid an Endosymbiont6Slide7
PhD Evolutionary Biology (Harvard 1967-73)Only PhD acceptance – no limits to research!Hall, W.P. 1973.
Comparative population cytogenetics, speciation and evolution of the iguanid lizard genus Sceloporus. PhD Thesis, Harvard UniversityInstructors Steve Gould, J.D. Watson (Nobel Laureate)Advisers: Ernest Williams, Ernst Mayr3 summers fieldwork through Mexico, SW US, West IndiesTeachingTeaching fellow George Wald (Nobel Laureate) – general studies life scienceIrven DeVore (anthropologist) – primate behaviour and evolutionHarvard ExtensionInvertebrate biology
Vertebrate biology7Slide8
7 chromosomal races in the Sceloporus grammicus complex in Mexico
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My professional career as an evolutionary biologistUniversity of Puerto Rico, San Juan (3 yrs)Biogeography (3 terms),
cytogenetics (2 terms), genetics, invertebrate biology, marine biology, comparative vertebrate anatomy, vertebrate ecology, and postgraduate seminars in cytogenetics and systematicsUniversity of Colorado, Boulder (15 months)Reorganized general education biology (1,000 students)Taught classical & molecular genetics (summer sessions)Postgraduate seminar on genetic systems, evolution & speciationUniv. Melbourne Research Fellow in Genetics (2 yrs)Supposedly writing up PhD research & looking for comparable variation in Australian lizardsMostly studied epistemology & history/philosophy of scienceContributed to genetical evolution plants & animals subjectUniv. Maryland College Park (1 yr half time)Evolutionary biology, vertebrate zoology, experimental genetics
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My paradigmatic crises in biologyI invented the
endosymbiosis theory for the origin of eukaryotic cells before Lynn Margulis published the now established versionExplaining the origin of complex cellular organelles in the first lecture of my invertebrate zoology courseI wasn’t able to publish because I had no degree or “qualifications” in cell biology (lacking in “authority”)My PhD thesis presented a new theory of species formation (see Hall 2010 for review)Alternative mode to Ernst Mayr’s geographic speciationMy method of argument was also aberrantNo one liked my writing or could tell me why they
didn’t like itDifficulties with journal editorsDarwinian “comparative” vs “hypothetico-deductive”Neither I nor my advisers consciously understood the epistemological foundations of scienceHence my study of epistemology and HPS (Hall 1983)10Slide11
Migration to Australia (late 1980) and a new careerLousy job prospects in USA / better connections here
Sugden fellowship Queens College (residential)Library & other goods lost for 9 months in SingaporeDiscovered prototype (personal) microcomputerStarted an academic word processing bureau to pay for itBogart’s Restaurant Computer Club fermentQueens not interested in what personal computing revolution meant for students’ futuresComputer training & editor for computer literacy journalsTechnical author and document manager for Computerease
Technical author & documentation mgr Bank of Melb.Merger of two building societies – only one computerizedExplained to executives how the computer system workedEnded up managing all computer & corporate services docoFired after reorganization by a jumped up book keeper11Slide12
Tenix Defence & ANZAC Ship Project (1990-2007)
$ 5 BN (in1980) ANZAC Ship Project designed & built 10 high-tech frigates for Australia (8) and NZ (2)Began in Commercial as WP systems expert & designer Flow down T&Cs from prime contract to subcontractsImplemented computerized document indexing systemStaff computer literacy trainingSupport Engineering (~ 1993 – 2001)Determined contract requirements for support documentation & test, evaluation, and validation requirements to demonstrate ship operational availabilityDesigned & helped implement Operational Availability Recording and Reporting SystemImplemented Structured Information Management for doco
Head Office (2002-June 2007)Various knowledge management systems analysis roles12Slide13
Tech data/documentation solution I designed
saved$100s of millions13RFT / ContractSlide14
Company formed 1987Oct. 1989 won $5 BN stringently fixed price contract to build 10 frigates for Aus. & NZ with many difficult warranty / liquidated damages milestones.
Project completed 2007 every ship delivered on-time, on-budget, company profithappy customersMid 2004 began a $500 M fixed-price contract to build 7 ships to commercial standards for New Zealand, to be completed in 2007By 2007 only one ship had been delivered (with substantial defects). Tenix costs were so far over contract value that
Tenix owners auctioned Defence assets to highest bidder (BAE Systems Australia delivered last ship in 2010)Tenix management thought the company knew how to build ships, but line management policies blocked transfer of personal knowledge from ANZAC project staff to new staff hired for NZ project.Hall, W.P., Nousala, S., Kilpatrick B. 2009. One company – two outcomes: knowledge integration vs corporate disintegration in the absence of knowledge management. VINE: The journal of information and knowledge management systems 39(3), 242-258Success & failure of Tenix Defence14Slide15
Questions arising15Slide16
Management failures to understand the roles of computing revolutions in their organizations Tenix also wasted 10s of millions on failed IT projects – some so badly implemented that vendors were told to go away and take their systems with them
To cope with changes they must be understoodCorporate managers have failed to grasp the strategic importance of technologies implemented within their organizationsComputerized knowledge versus ponderous paperCALS (acronym from military support engineering communityComputer Aided Logistic SupportCommerce At Light SpeedKnowledge is powerRight knowledge to the right people when/where needed16Slide17
Incommensurable paradigms and holy warsThomas Kuhn on scientific (and technical) revolutions and paradigmatic incommensurability
Computerization & application holy warsPonderous paper versus commerce at light speedElectronic typewriters vs structured authoringWhy do these issues start holy wars?What is knowledge?Tacit vs explicitData/Information/Knowledge/Intelligence/Wisdom/PowerWhat is life?
My first serious question as a biology studentI only fully answered it when I realized that organizations like Tenix were also living entities in their own rightsI started the book to answer these questions17