Invited to speak at the recent (February 21) 2006 Business Intelligence Forum organized by Interban Network in Madrid, I chose, with the title repeated here, some reflections on the importance of information, stopping at the main hiatuses whereby, From there, we have to go to reach the desired prosperity of companies.
Specifically, in my 24 PPT screens, I stopped at the passage from information to knowledge, and from the latter to action and innovation: three journeys that demand our attention.
I have pointed out in some other text that, when we talk about productivity and competitiveness in the knowledge economy, or we refer to the information society, we frequently end up talking about information and communication technologies (ICT), without whose help things they certainly get difficult, if not impossible. It is true that ICT -for the services they provide us- are essential in the new economy and in the toolkit of workers and managers; But they do not ensure by themselves - accept the truism - progress towards prosperity, a task that corresponds to people.
Skillfully managing computer tools is a subject that we have to pass and we often pass; but, once the information has been obtained and whether it is functional or technical, we must properly interpret it, contrast it, evaluate it and incorporate it into the collection, before making important decisions.
Ultimately, we must translate, without fail, the required information into applicable knowledge. This is a first hiatus, a continuity not always well resolved, on which I required the attention of the audience in the forum to which I referred.
What do we do, from when we feel the need to inform ourselves until we reach the applicable knowledge? Both in the daily performance in the company of knowledge, as in the parallel, inexcusable, work of lifelong learning, it is possible to distinguish, according to my way of seeing it, the following steps:
- Awareness of the need for information Definition of the search pattern Identification of sources Access to them (human, printed or electronic) Locating useful information Parallel discoveries Examination of information Interpretation and evaluation of the same. Information contrast Integration and learning Combination with previous knowledge Establishing connections Possible inferences and abstractions Synthesis and conclusions Systemic reflection Application and dissemination
These steps require a broad list of informational skills that I placed in two quadrants: personal (eagerness to learn, critical thinking, intuition…) and operational (knowledge of the field, handling of tools, search strategy…).
In the other two quadrants, I referred to the precise competencies to generate valuable information ourselves for others: personal (conceptual thinking, integrity, empathy…) and operational (knowledge of the organization, allegation, command of language…).
It is necessary to handle well with the information that is offered to us, but it is also necessary that we contribute in the company to the flow of knowledge that we have acquired; so that our informational competence has to be double (push & pull).
But above all, I wanted to highlight the occasional biases (urgencies, concerns, interests, influences…) and chronic (long-standing beliefs, prejudices, biases…), which interfere with the translation of information into knowledge: of the same fact, we make different readings.
In addition, the brain often deceives us, in its effort to fill in the gaps and invent or suppose, when it lacks certainty. I projected the well-known Kanizsa triangle, to suggest that something similar happens to us when we automatically interpret textual information. Certainly the brain tends to imagine and infer - sometimes boldly - when it lacks information, but perhaps the intelligence's first duty is to question itself.
I had, of course, to dwell on the figure of the new knowledge worker, which Peter Drucker defined for us. Information -nutrient of the mind- becomes a fundamental raw material for this worker; that is, for almost all of us, workers and managers. I insisted that it is a profile that favors the appearance of states of autotelic flow, that is, of concentration on the task, high performance and professional enjoyment.
When changing hiatus to focus the passage from knowledge to action, I remembered that knowledge -knowledge- enables us to act, but that we must also have volitional elements and various competencies (soft skills).
It is not enough that our professional profiles are complete - which they are never completely complete - but we must pursue, decisively and effectively, well-selected and formulated goals. To be specified, and although I do not know if I said it verbatim, we need important emotional competencies and metacompetencies, to obtain the best use of our knowledge and abilities.
And when finally focusing the transition from knowledge to innovation, we were able to connect with experimentation and with those parallel, casual discoveries (serendipity), to which I had already referred, as well as with inferences and abstractions… In fact, I spoke of the TRIZ method of creative problem solving, as an exemplary case of knowledge management when still (about 50 years ago) this postulate was not discussed.
The new knowledge, the one that broadens the field of knowledge, has to be built on what already exists: the new is new in relation to the previous.
The knowledge worker, as a lifelong learner, is close to the frontiers of his professional field, and in a position to expand it. Beyond continuous improvement, innovation undoubtedly characterizes the new economy, and it is not surprising that we are witnessing the sudden death of some industries, while others are born.
My next pages of the presentation referred to the idea of intelligent organizations that the business management literature shuffles, and they presented an extensive list of indicators: I wanted to insist on the importance of information in the company, and to draw attention to the role of genuine intuition, which we should perhaps be pulling out of semi-hiding…
Time ran out, and I also remembered when, months ago, I was also talking about these things in the Zamudio park (Vizcaya) and I ran out of four hours without completing my 93 PPT screens… Maybe, despite the advancement of technology, there are still things to do to get more out of the information and knowledge that is created and circulated, and to ensure the levels of productivity and competitiveness that we pursue: I invite you to reflect on this.
