Seriously people, it is really hard to get information right and it is just as difficult to get the right information.
Yet, here we are constantly thinking that we can solve the information equation.
This tool is going to do it. This is the tool that is going to put the right information at your fingertips. Not only that, this magnificent software will sync up your whole team and even your supply chain. (I managed to sneak in the word supply chain into this post…Send the search bots my way.) All we have to do is find the right tool and everything will be better.
However, that is not how it works since human brains all work so differently, information systems are not really adequate to do that job.
If we are able to remove or at least limit variability from every process, information systems can do a somewhat better of job of keeping things in sync.
In some processes, variability is really bad. Manufacturing processes are designed to reduce variability to within tolerable ranges. Smart design processes design products that still work perfectly if they are built within those tolerances.
In other instances, variability is what creates new value.
Information systems can be designed to accommodate an increasing amount of variation, but that tends to make the system more complex.
These systems tend to have more and more settings which are buried deep down. You are never quite sure what combination of settings will deliver the results that you are seeking.
The standard approach for managing in the complex world is to work from a simplified model. Some simplified models of reality are more complex than others, but all models are over simplified and this leads to a lot of unseen vulnerability.
This is the problem with all IT systems and this will be a problem with Smart Contracts too. The problem with information technology is not so much the technology as it is the people. Seriously, people we just need to do better.
