Lex is a community focused on the relationship between information, knowledge, choices and risk.
Lex is based on the hypothesis that today’s approaches to information and knowledge management are inadequate. With rapid information generation and specialized knowledge, a new approach to information management and collaboration is needed.
We Are Human (WAH)
Humans still have human brains with all of its capabilities and limitations. While we have built many tools and systems to augment human capability, it is ultimately humans that have to put the pieces together in order to make something new and valuable.
Finding the valuable information at the right time is what provides lasting leverage. But information is a constantly moving target and filtering the signal from the noise is not an easy task.
The Information “Not So” Super Highway
While information travels fast, it does not have on-ramps, exits, signs and maps. Structurally, the Internet may have some similarities to the highway system, but information really doesn’t. Information moves across the Internet at fiber optic speed observed by anyone who has the right level of access. But the value of information is not the speed of transmission (except in high finance), it is how it is used to make new connections. The connections between bits of information are often what leads to the creation new knowledge.
Don’t Be So Quick to Judge
With the volume of information produced today, the temptation is to look at information quickly, assess its value and move on. Some people have systems of storing information that they want to refer back to at a later date, but even deciding if something is worth coming back to and flagging it in some way takes time.
The pressure to keep up and the fascination with the “New Thing” forces many of us to make snap decisions about information. This is both necessary and insufficient.
The value of information varies with time. You can be too early, or you can be too late. It all makes a difference. How do you know what you are looking at and how to spot things that you aren’t looking for at the moment? How do you focus on the moment and keep your eyes and mind open for new information that might be more important.
The Information Skill Shot
Information management is not new with the computer age or the age of the Internet. It is a core human capability and is key to human survival. The systems that we have built for information management have evolved through the years, but humans still process information in largely the same way.
Humans have always acted on a combination of prior knowledge, new information available, intuition, risk tolerance and the ability to make choices at the appropriate moment to achieve their goal at the moment — whether it was escaping an immediate threat or working toward some longer term goal. Information systems have moved from unwritten, to written and now to digital.
With data and artificial intelligence (AI) in nearly all aspects of life, it is an opportunity to rethink this equation. It requires forethought and not just cool technology.
Finding the New Information Path
Lex is about a new path for using information systems in our lives and our organizations. Creating systems that empower and enable rather than deferring to the algorithms that will hinder insight, innovation and creativity. There is not one right answer for everyone, but there are a lot potentially wrong answers.
The goal of Lex is to explore systems and processes that leverage information and unleash human potential. It is an hypothesis and an exploration.