User:Perlstergerters/sandbox/Websterian Project and Information Management Practice

In the field of project management, Websterian practice sets out principles and conventions for the conduct of consultant activity to aid the effectiveness and efficiency of project delivery in large corporate initiatives or programs. At first glance the foundations of Websterian theory appear comical, appealing to cynics with a dim view of the various layers of corporate management, however in practice their application tends to result in outcome quality well above that typical for the organisation subject to the practice.

While the precise mechanisms and theories that underpin the practice have not been well studied, popular opinion converges on the intersection of various psychological theories including the Dunning Kruger effect, especially the illlusion of competence.

Fundamentals
Websterian theory establishes a set of fundamental definitions that provide a framework to understand the relationship between classic project management outcomes, and the presentation of information and non-information to governance groups and other project participants.

Jelly Bean
An atomic unit of information; A statement that is exactly one management-understandable unit in size and that is characterised by one of three colours; red, green or yellow based on its certainty and pessimism. A Jelly Bean is typically one sentence that in most cases cannot contain conjunctions. A Jelly Bean of information can nonetheless feature supporting information that does not distract from the fundamental point of the Jelly Bean. Websterian Practice sets out that to be effective, a Microsoft PowerPoint slide presented to management can contain no more than two Jelly Beans. For senior management the colour palette of Jelly Beans is restricted to either red or green; only experts can be expected to understand a yellow Jelly Bean.

Nuggets
In Websterian Theory a nugget is not the encapsulation of chicken in 11 herbs and spices but rather a Nugget is a highly sought after and valued insight. A nugget is a distillation of information that imparts a quantum leap in the understanding of the subject matter. On reading a nugget there is often a moment of silence to savour the insight and occasionally followed by a whistle of approval. A re-enactment of a reading of a nugget is illustrated in the Websterian Theory Training Manual.

Suffice to say that a Websterian deliverable must contain nuggets at regular intervals.

Webster Ratio (also known as Webster Score)
Is a characteristic of a written or verbal statement (typically made to management) that quantifies its ratio of apparent to actual information. Generally the higher the score the better. In general consultants should take care to maximise the Webster Ratio of any statement made to management.

History
Websterian Practice was first codified by Kevin Webster in 2008 during the Victorian Advanced Metering Infrastructure deployment program undertaken by Alinta Asset Management