What is the value of safe information?
Ironically, safety kills. Safety is generally thought to be a good thing, but in a strange way, it is actually very dangerous.
Safe information tends to be static, but in reality, information is not static.
In our digital world information flips. If we are waiting to for Good Housekeeping seal of approval on each peace of information that we see, we will be waiting for a long time and the information will be wrong.
However, if we react to every new bit of information that we see, we are bound to act rashly too.
So not reacting to new information and only waiting for safe information is dangerous, but overreacting to every bit of new information is dangerous too.
So there is an element of risk management to your personal information strategy. Conscious or not, every individual has an information strategy.
Similarly, every organization has an information strategy. It is both a collection of the personal information strategies of the individuals of the organization as some overarching approach to information that may or may not be stated.
New information has a vetting phase. Everyone vets information differently too. In a complicated world with many viewpoints deciding which information is most likely to be accurate and spurs you to action is not straightforward.
Intentional misinformation, counter intelligence, obfuscation, distraction, redirection and many other factors are in play.
While it may seem to be the safest course to stick with the majority viewpoints of events, it can often lead you astray. It is also a good not to look to jump too quickly to cause and effect.
Finding information is easy. Finding good information that you can trust is much harder. Humans have been dealing with the information strategy issue for eternity. In the end it comes down to some judgement.
Following what seems like the safe information at the time may turn out to be a big mistake.
