Information is a bit like sugar. It gives you a quick burst of pleasure and energy, but after the initial high, you are left feeling a bit empty and low. Yet, you still crave more. For example, Twitter is a repository of random fragments of information. The benefit is that Read more…
In some ways, information systems are the ultimate application area for design thinking. But you know what? I absolutely hate Design Thinking. It sounds pretentious. Fancy terminology for simple ideas that time forgot. And you know what is worse than Design Thinking, it is people that are doctrinaire about its Read more…
Walking on a trail the other day, I recognized a lot of problems with information. The trail map looks good. It makes sense, but the actual trail is often a bit more ambiguous than the map. The map is oversimplified and leaves out much detail. The actual trail is more Read more…
Today’s information management tools look attractive and have a facade that makes them seem easy to use. The problem is that most organizations really don’t know what they are doing with information inside these systems. Information systems exist to help different functions do their jobs… And while that may seem Read more…
Peter Thiel wrote an interesting book called Zero to One where he expounded on his theories on the mindset for growing a big business. This post has nothing to do with that book except for playing with the title… This is about the notion of zero incremental cost… There are Read more…
It is right before your eyes, but you cannot see it. Can you trust information systems to give you the information that you need when you need it … …the answer is a definite maybe Sadly, there are problems with information systems at every level. All information systems are based Read more…
What is the decision that needs to be made? Has it been decided who can make that decision? Do you have the information that you need to make that decision? When does the decision have to be made and are you empowered to make that decision? Timing plays a role Read more…
Life is a series of information events. The events on their own need not be big, but small data makes big data. Not that big data is something to get all that excited about, but information builds on prior information. Most information events happen with little awareness. And being more Read more…
Organizations, at their core, are essentially an information hierarchy, and information rarely respects hierarchy. Yet, information systems are designed with an embedded hierarchical structure. Unsurprisingly this structure blocks natural information flow. There is a mismatch in the approach to information system design. Access to information is top down. Individuals at Read more…
In the broadest sense, information is used in one of three ways: To discover Observe and record To communicate Share and convince To coordinate Align, synchronize and transact Information looks different in each of these modes. In some instances, there is more ambiguity and the need for free form data. Read more…