Replication and Open Communication As Methods of Finding the Truth combines academic research with significant real world experiences that will surprise and amaze. In this book you will follow Dr. Tompkins' first-person narrative of moving from a failed replication of an experiment in a chemistry lab to his investigative work as he attempted to replicate the facts of Truman Capote in his non-fiction novel In Cold Blood. This search for replication resulted in Dr. Tompkins' article in Esquire Magazine titled In Cold Fact, which presented a detailed counter narrative of many of the facts in Capote's book.

Replication and Open Communication as Methods of Finding The Truth continues with Dr. Tompkins work investigating and reporting on the causes of the Kent State Massacre. Hint: the lack of open communication played a major role.

Dr. Tompkins describes his work as a consultant to Werhner Von Braun during the R& D phase of NASA's Moon Rocket Project where the principles of open communication and replication were significant to its success; and their lack in later space flights where Von Braun was not involved led to the tragedies of the Challenger and Columbia disasters.

Dr. Tompkins' research and real world experiences described throughout this book found that replication and open communication, when combined, produced desired outcomes, including the truth. And the lack of them could produce disaster.

All of this leads to Dr. Tompkins applying the methods of replication and open communication to other topics, such as second opinions in medicine, before reporting a stunning climactic discovery, the independent confirmation of findings dating to the 17th century when chemistry, i.e. science, was able to emerge out of the dark chaos of alchemy.

Dr. Tompkins is the former editor of Communication Monographs, Past President and Fellow of the International Communication Association, and author of six books, two of which draw on his 22 years of experience as a volunteer at the St. Francis Center, a large day shelter for homeless guests in Denver, Colorado.

Replication and Open Communication As Methods of Finding the Truth combines academic research with significant real world experiences that will surprise and amaze. In this book you will follow Dr. Tompkins' first-person narrative of moving from a failed replication of an experiment in a chemistry lab to his investigative work as he attempted to replicate the facts of Truman Capote in his non-fiction novel In Cold Blood. This search for replication resulted in Dr. Tompkins' article in Esquire Magazine titled In Cold Fact, which presented a detailed counter narrative of many of the facts in Capote's book.

Replication and Open Communication as Methods of Finding The Truth continues with Dr. Tompkins work investigating and reporting on the causes of the Kent State Massacre. Hint: the lack of open communication played a major role.

Dr. Tompkins describes his work as a consultant to Werhner Von Braun during the R& D phase of NASA's Moon Rocket Project where the principles of open communication and replication were significant to its success; and their lack in later space flights where Von Braun was not involved led to the tragedies of the Challenger and Columbia disasters.

Dr. Tompkins' research and real world experiences described throughout this book found that replication and open communication, when combined, produced desired outcomes, including the truth. And the lack of them could produce disaster.

All of this leads to Dr. Tompkins applying the methods of replication and open communication to other topics, such as second opinions in medicine, before reporting a stunning climactic discovery, the independent confirmation of findings dating to the 17th century when chemistry, i.e. science, was able to emerge out of the dark chaos of alchemy.

Apollo, Challenger, Columbia: The Decline of the Space Program provides unparalleled longitudinal insight into the organizational successes and failures of NASA. The book treats NASA over its 45-year history from 1958 to 2003, concentrating on five data points

* 1967: when Tompkins first served as a Summer Faculty Consultant in Organizational Communication to legendary rocket scientist Wernher von Braun during the Apollo Program.
* 1968: when he served in the same capacity to help reorganize NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.
* 1986: when he investigated the communication failures that caused the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger.
* 1987: when he researched NASA's highly successful Aviation Safety Reporting System.
* 2003: when he interpreted the communication failures leading up to the catastrophic failure of the space shuttle Columbia.
The result is a presentation of concrete communication correlates of organizational success and failure. Tompkins is a master of what Clifford Geertz called thick description. The result is a compelling, richly detailed, longitudinal case study concentrating on processual changes in communication-as-organization. In this book, Tompkins introduces theory subtly, inserting it to explain details of the organization that would otherwise defy understanding.

In considering other organizations in trouble, Tompkins identifies ten communication transgressions, one of which, for example, is ignorantia affectata--an affected or cultivated ignorance of organizational problems. In contrast to these failed organizations and their pathologies, Tompkins offers a sketch of two healthy organizations that live by value logics--applying ethical values in the organizational workplace. There are lessons to be learned from NASA's disasters. With all of the high-profile ethical lapses in U.S. corporations, Tompkins advocates individuals and organizations taking responsibility for their actions.

Along with increased complexities in work and life in general in the twenty-first century come new and dangerous risks to workers, customers, and the general public. Drawing on decades of experience as a researcher and consultant for a range of organizations and individuals in high-risk domains, the author of this book presents a powerful theory of open communication and teamwork. This unites a range of communication practices and principles that have proven to combat risk and complexity in organizations. The book initially focuses on NASA, an organization that experiences and engages with high complexity and risk daily. As a participant-observer in the Apollo program, the author witnessed pioneering communication practices that, for example, empowered engineers with automatic responsibility for any technical problem they perceived. It was partly the failure to follow such protocols that resulted in the catastrophes experienced in the Challenger and Columbia tragedies, as the author shows. Using the lessons learned from the space program, the book then explores complexity and risk in medicine, aviation, the fighting of forest fires, and homelessness, again consistently finding communication practices that worked and did not work. Based on detailed research conducted over several decades, the book presents a unified theory linked to generally applicable communication practices. Case studies include the results of an international experiment of surgery conducted in ten countries that produced a highly significant reduction of deaths and infections in Africa, India, and other parts of the world, to the creation of innovative communication practices that significantly reduced risks in the US aviation industry.

Stories from the Shelter is a collection of stories from volunteers, staff and guests at a nonprofit day refuge for homeless men and women in metro Denver Colorado--St. Francis Center. These are stories about how guests live and survive; about where they are going; stories about hidden knowledge and talents; stories about problems and incidents; stories about successes and tragedies.

Originally published in 1971. Investigating the events of May 1970, this book tested the hypothesis that the shootings occurred as a result of a problem of communication. It presents the result of an in-depth series of interviews soon after the tragic event, offering insights into communication systems in a large institution.

Who Is My Neighbor? is a compelling account of the author's ten-year journey as a volunteer at the St. Francis Center, a homeless shelter in Denver, Colorado. A retired Professor of Communication, Phil Tompkins marshals his considerable experience as a participant observer in recording the voices of the guests of the shelter as they teach us about their situation. We learn about their hopes for regaining a home and their fears as they are victimized-in some cases even murdered. Tompkins shows how effective communication and organization can contribute to finding an end to homelessness and establishing a movement toward protective action, especially when a proactive local government gets involved. In addition to giving voice to homeless people, Who Is My Neighbor? explores Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's ambitious Commission to End Homelessness. This remarkable social experiment, now called Denver's Road Home, is two years into implementing an innovative plan for ending homelessness. It provides a model for other cities nationwide where persistent homelessness has defied resolution.

Who Is My Neighbor? is a compelling account of the author's ten-year journey as a volunteer at the St. Francis Center, a homeless shelter in Denver, Colorado. A retired Professor of Communication, Phil Tompkins marshals his considerable experience as a participant observer in recording the voices of the guests of the shelter as they teach us about their situation. We learn about their hopes for regaining a home and their fears as they are victimized-in some cases even murdered. Tompkins shows how effective communication and organization can contribute to finding an end to homelessness and establishing a movement toward protective action, especially when a proactive local government gets involved. In addition to giving voice to homeless people, Who Is My Neighbor? explores Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's ambitious Commission to End Homelessness. This remarkable social experiment, now called Denver's Road Home, is two years into implementing an innovative plan for ending homelessness. It provides a model for other cities nationwide where persistent homelessness has defied resolution.

Originally published in 1971. On May 4th, 1970, shots fired by the Ohio National Guard at Kent State University were heard around the world. People were either outraged by the killings or outraged at the students. Instant experts rendered the judgment that it was all a problem of communication. This book tested that hypothesis as it presents the result of an in-depth series of interviews both within and outside the university soon after the tragic event. The book includes a narrative of an initial understanding of the incidents but admits its limit in full information as it outlines the results of the study, which looked at systems and subsystems of information flow. This book adds to the understanding of problems of communication in large organisations and particularly education establishments as well as being a cautionary tale of a specific event.