Chapter 4: Managing Data, Information, Knowledge and Action

Synopsis
Past definitions of organizational excellence basically consisted of effectively managing people and tasks. Today, we must consider another dimension: managing data, information and knowledge. This may well be today's greatest challenge facing managers: how to convert the bountiful quantity of available data to useful information that provides knowledge, leading to action.

The chapter develops the Data-Information-Knowledge-Action model, highlighting the skills managers need to acquire, along with typical organizational problems at each stage. Also discussed are typical loops that describe what happens in many organizations. The I-A loop, for example, is indicative of a "program of the month" cycle where managers read about the latest management fad, seize the opportunity to implement the program, only to repeat the cycle again and again. Employees become frustrated and cynical because the organization continues to respond to the latest initiative without learning from the previous one. Information (the fad) leads to action (implementation of the program), not knowledge of how the fad fits in to the big picture.

The chapter presents various suggestions about how to better manage the D-I-K-A relationships. For example, increasing the efficiency of data and information transmission by providing "product embedded information" and "just in time information" can enhance the data-information relationship. The information-knowledge relationship can be improved by considering the source's credibility, realizing that who creates the data and sends the information provides important insight into its reliability, validity and utility. Finally, the knowledge-action relationship can be enhanced by creating strategic knowledge-sharing communities, where individual members come together to discuss major issues and focus on broad goals.

Outline

  1. Myths
    1. More data is better
    2. Information is a commodity
    3. Information is knowledge

  2. The D-I-K-A Model
    1. Concepts
    2. Relationships
    3. Skills

  3. Deviations on the Model
    1. The D-I-K Loop
    2. The K-A Loop
    3. The I-A Loop

     

  4. Managing the Data-Information Relationship
    1. Determine what employees need to know
    2. Find ways to increase the efficiency of data and information transmission
    3. Pay attention to the form of information
    4. Be wary of data or information filtered through a chain of communicators
    5. Generate both hard and soft data
    6. Recognize and manage all the information networks

     

  5. Managing the Information-Knowledge Relationship
    1. Consider the source's credibility
    2. Be aware of how the hierarchy impacts the flow and availability of information
    3. Acknowledge what you don't know
    4. Reconcile the tension between facts and theory
    5. Organize the same information in different way to extract the underlying meaning

     

  6. Managing the Knowledge-Action Relationship
    1. Create strategic knowledge-sharing communities
    2. Re-evaluate the role of organizational reports

     

  7. Applying the D-I-K-A Model

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  8. Conclusion

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