ID2100 - Rethinking Information Systems and Technology
Learning to Think about Information

 

Page Links Learning to think about informationInformabilityPlanning changeData vs InformationTechnology vs InformationProcess vs FunctionGoals vs PurposeResults vs CapabilityDesign vs DiscoveryEfficiency vs Efficacy

Learning to Think about Information

 

Information is a distinct discipline, separate from technology, requiring its own knowledge, skills, and perspectives.

 

Conventional IT suffers considerable confusion not only about what we should be thinking about but how to think about it.  Many favorite perspectives are unimportant.  When improperly emphasized they are destructive.  Suffering a tradition that limits possibilities and lowers expectations diminishes the vision of what we could and should expect from information management.

 

 

Thinking information instead of technology.

 

 

 

Page Contents

Informability

Informability

The four corners of information capability.

Planning change

Planning Change

Making change a part of systems instead of something that happens to systems.

Data vs Information

Data vs. Information

Distinguishing between organizing data-symbols and organizing information-meaning.

Technology vs Information

Technology vs. Information

Making technology fit how information works instead of making information fit how technology works.

Process vs Function

Process vs. Function

Putting function (what we accomplish ) ahead of process (what we do) to eliminate process-oriented anti-functions hidden in conventional systems.

Goals vs Purpose

Goals vs. Purpose

Assuring how we achieve our goals (win battles) doesn't violate our overall purpose (lose the war).

Results vs Capability

Results vs. Capability

Planning systems with information capabilities ("teach to fish") instead of providing a relative hand full of results ("give fish").

Design vs Discovery

Design vs. Discovery

How information fits the real world (discovery) instead of how it fits technology (design).

Efficiency vs Efficacy

Efficiency vs. Efficacy

Planning that how well we do something (efficacy) takes priority over how fast we do something (efficiency) while still improving efficiency.

 

 

 

Informability

Learning to think about informationInformabilityPlanning changeData vs InformationTechnology vs InformationProcess vs FunctionGoals vs PurposeResults vs CapabilityDesign vs DiscoveryEfficiency vs Efficacy

 

The four corners of information capability (informability)

 

 

INFORMATION

In Concept

(Functional)

In Practice

(Tactical)

What it is

Information
Topography

Information
Cartography

How it works

Information
Mechanics

Information
Engines

 

Information
Topography

Information develops in layers.  Within each layer are information types (meanings).  Information layers and types are functionally identical for all situations. The difference between one situation and another is determined, not by what the information is, but by how many of which information types are required within each layer to inform each situation. Information Topography identifies the layers and types that are the information building blocks

Information
Mechanics

Within Information Topography information functions in four dimensions.  Within these dimensions are information vectors through which we develop new information from existing information.  Dimensions and vectors influence and are influenced by information orgination (how we obtain information), precedence (the order in which we obtain information), supersession (the impact of information change), and correlation (how tings associate one to another ... how hierarchical and relational concepts are really the same thing).

Information
Cartography

Applied topography. Identifying (mapping) the unique information of  a particular situation and organizing it to the rules of informability. 

Information
Engines

Applied Mechanics. Using technology to Implement the rules of topography and mechanics for any information map.

 

 

Planning Change

Learning to think about informationInformabilityPlanning changeData vs InformationTechnology vs InformationProcess vs FunctionGoals vs PurposeResults vs CapabilityDesign vs DiscoveryEfficiency vs Efficacy

Information is affected by changes of data, information, technology, expectations, and needs.  Managing information about information (through topography, mechanics, cartography, and engines) isolates change, making it relatively easy to accommodate.  Topography and mechanics don't change. Cartography ... the map, and engines do.  Buying new technology ... a new engine ... should not require a new information map.  Remapping changing business should not require a new engine. 

 

Data vs Information

Learning to think about informationInformabilityPlanning changeData vs InformationTechnology vs InformationProcess vs FunctionGoals vs PurposeResults vs CapabilityDesign vs DiscoveryEfficiency vs Efficacy

Data and information

 

The words data and information, often used interchangeably, are not truly synonymous. 

data

symbols; ... letters, numerals, punctuation, character sets, bits, bytes, ASCII, pixels, etc.

information

meaning; ... what information tells us and what it tells us about

Data has no intrinsic reality.  Data-symbols are artificial, agreed upon convention.  Sorting something ... alphabetizing it ... only makes sense if we agree that the alphabet follows the arbitrary sequence ABC to XYZ. Much of what we call "information technology" is really agreed upon but essentially 'meaningless' (non-informational) symbol manipulation. 

 

Information is wholly about intrinsic reality.  Information-meaning transcends symbology, requiring different knowledge, mind-sets, and skills to develop and organize than those used for symbol manipulation.

 

Despite conversational usage, distinguishing between data-symbology and information-meaning is critical to effective information management. The point is to be informed, not "data-ed."

 

Technology vs. Information

Learning to think about informationInformabilityPlanning changeData vs InformationTechnology vs InformationProcess vs FunctionGoals vs PurposeResults vs CapabilityDesign vs DiscoveryEfficiency vs Efficacy

 

technology

artificial and arbitrary;

tools
computer, calculator, pencil, quill pen, abacus
media
discs, flat screens, paper, cave walls
symbology
ideographs, icons, alphabets, number systems

information

real and definitive;

meaning
what information tells us and what it tells us about

No matter which technology complex we choose ... pigment stained fingers and cave walls, quill pen and ruled ledger, or computer and lighted display ... knowing what we need to know about to know about something is the same for every situation.  Without clearly developed knowledge about information, contemplating technology just gets in the way of understanding and organizing what information tells us and what it tells us about.

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Process vs. Function

Learning to think about informationInformabilityPlanning changeData vs InformationTechnology vs InformationProcess vs FunctionGoals vs PurposeResults vs CapabilityDesign vs DiscoveryEfficiency vs Efficacy

 

process

what we do

function

what we accomplish

If we ask five people to sum a column of numbers giving the first pencil and paper, the second a calculator, another an abacus, the next a computer, and the last only their fingers and toes, how they accomplish the summation function is completely determined by the tool available to them.  Process is always decided by the tool and our perceptions of it, not by what we want to accomplish.  

Information does not now have, has never had, and can never have a process.  Unable to differentiate between the two, conventional IT plans process mechanization, not information automation.

If Henry Ford and the Wright brothers had mechanized process instead of function, cars would gallop and airplanes would flap.

Planning effective information management requires functional, not procedural thinking.

 

Goals vs. Purpose

Learning to think about informationInformabilityPlanning changeData vs InformationTechnology vs InformationProcess vs FunctionGoals vs PurposeResults vs CapabilityDesign vs DiscoveryEfficiency vs Efficacy

 

 

The operation was a succes and the patient LIVED!

 

We won the battle but lost the war.

The operation was a success but the patient died.

These cliches describe conventional information technology and systems.  It is not that the goals and purpose are incompatible, but goals so preoccupy our intention that what we do to achieve them rarely works to the greater purpose of actually managing information.  We assume it, we just don't do it and never have.

 

Pursuing goals unguided by purpose sets false criteria.  What seems a success is really a failure.  The battle is won; the war is lost. 

 

Results vs. Capability

Learning to think about informationInformabilityPlanning changeData vs InformationTechnology vs InformationProcess vs FunctionGoals vs PurposeResults vs CapabilityDesign vs DiscoveryEfficiency vs Efficacy

 

 

Results vs Capability

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

This homily illustrates the difference between providing results and providing capability.  Providing results makes the recipient dependent on and even hostage to the results-giver.  Providing capability makes them self-sufficient.  Though without malicious intent, our conventional provide-results perspective on systems keeps business artificially dependent on IT overhead.  Providing capability allows business to get its results as it needs when it needs without being spoon-fed each result. 

 

Design vs. Discovery

Learning to think about informationInformabilityPlanning changeData vs InformationTechnology vs InformationProcess vs FunctionGoals vs PurposeResults vs CapabilityDesign vs DiscoveryEfficiency vs Efficacy

 

 

Design vs. Discovery

 

When planning systems, design is always about the tool ... the vehicle ... not the informational lay-of-the land.  Managing information to its full potential requires full informational discovery without worrying about the vehicle.  Until information terrain is fully understood, it is impossible to know if vehicle design is sufficient or appropriate. 

 

Efficiency vs Efficacy

Learning to think about informationInformabilityPlanning changeData vs InformationTechnology vs InformationProcess vs FunctionGoals vs PurposeResults vs CapabilityDesign vs DiscoveryEfficiency vs Efficacy

 

How fast we do something (efficiency) does not translate to how well we do it (efficacy or effectiveness).  Now matter how well we learn to use a saw, it is important to know whether the purpose is sawdust or lumber.  How well we use information is more important than how efficiently we use technology.  Ironically, the better we use information the better we can use technology.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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