What are the components of a robust information strategy?
People. Ideas. Structure. Process. Flow.
You’ll notice I didn’t say anything about PC versus Mac, or what the best open-source database stack is, or whether you should be on Twitter.
I don’t know the answer to those questions until I know more about you, what you do now, and what you’d like to do.
My Philosophy And Approach
- Value In, Value Out. Every person who contributes value to the system should receive value from it, or at least perceive indirect value to themselves. This is key to successful adoption. (And not always strictly possible, but it’s a good goal.)
- Incrementalism. Change is tough. Small changes can yield big results. Often, a dozen seemingly-small efficiency gains can do a better job of making your organization more effective than one massive, disruptive change.
- Cutting Edge is Bleeding Edge. Very few organizations need to be at the front of the adoption curve. Let other organizations operate there, then observe and learn from them.
- Beware of Over-Optimization. One person’s inefficiency is another person’s culture. And culture is a key differentiator.
- Data lasts longer than tools. Focus your attention and resources on collecting, maintaining and understanding data, and use the simplest tools possible to do it.
- Standards Matter. Imagine taking a cross country trip if you had to manually reconfigure your engine for a different kind of fuel after crossing each state line! Adopt, encourage and promote standard formats, protocols and platforms.
- Allow for unintentional discoveries. Accidents can be good. No one can anticipate all the sources of value around them. Clearly, you do not want ‘accidents’ in your accounting or logistics systems! But in human-oriented systems such as public communication, creative projects and collaboration, it is critical to allow for the unexpected.
