When I first started working as a management accountant I learnt that it was no good having loads of data unless you could turn that into information. But even information is pointless if you can't use it. For example - it's no use having all the data about your sales opportunities if you can't turn that into a report that helps you manage the sales pipeline. But even the best pipeline report is useless if it takes you hours or days to produce.
I was reminded this week that the information trail goes even further:
Data becomes Information,
Information leads to Knowledge
Knowledge develops Understanding
Understanding gives Wisdom
Data is raw and has no meaning;
Information is data that has been given meaning;
Knowledge is where information sources are gathered so that it becomes useful;
Understanding happens when knowledge becomes embedded and you can take action;
Wisdom is much higher. It allows us to determine the difference between right and wrong.
In business, nothing less than understanding is truly useful and wouldn't it be nice to have a bit of wisdom!
1 comment:
Hi Jonathan, in my experience The tsunami of data that people are assaulted with every day means that – for many – getting up to your ‘Knowledge’ level is itself a great achievement. Understanding and Wisdom are rarely achieved.
Today I received 2 independent email responses to two unconnected emails I had sent which highlights the problem. On both occasions the sender asked a question, the answer to which was in my mail to them already! Both my mails were short – 3 and 5 short sentences respectively. Yet 2 articulated, motivated, able and respected people whacked a reply back with an unnecessary question. How often does this happen in busy offices each day?
In my blog ‘Its not information overload – its filter failure’ http://priorityattitudes.com/2009/09/its-not-information-overload-its-filter-failure-part-1/ I highlight some ‘Human’ and ‘Technology’ solutions to this problem
Richard
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