Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Data, Information, and Knowledge
DataData is simply raw facts and figures: measurements, statistics, and so forth. Thanks in large part to technology, organizations have access to an incredible amount of data. They get it from POP, from customer service departments, from suppliers, distributors, retailers, sales people, and any number of other channels. Anything that can possibly be measured probably is, and it's probably stored in a database somewhere.
But what to do with it? Data is pretty useless on its own. In fact, it's worse than useless: sorting through all that data takes a lot of resources. We feel like we can't just ignore it, we can't just let all this data collect without doing something with it, but the sheer volume of data available is intimidating. Where do we start?
Information
Once data has processed, interpreted, and collected into some sort of presentable format, it becomes information. For example, a chart illustrating the top five widget makers in North America for Q2 2006 is a piece of information.
This is where most organizations stop. They take all the data, run it through a QA package or whatever that makes some charts, write a report, then pat themselves on the back. The worth of information is oftentimes measured by its "thud factor"- that is, how loudly it thuds when you plop it on someone's desk. It's like you're paying by the inch!
The truth is, though, that information isn't worth a whole lot more than raw data in today's business world. I mean, we've all seen what happens to this stuff. We get a huge mountain of a report, say "Oh wow, thanks! This looks great!" then banish it to the "stuff I have to read" pile on our desk... which means it never gets read.
And who can blame us? Who doesn't suffer from information overload? We all have way more "stuff to read" than we have time or energy to even think about looking at. It's basic supply and demand: as the amount of information increases, the value of information decreases. The really valuable stuff is knowledge.
Knowledge
Knowledge is information that is contextual, relevant, and actionable. It's insights and ideas that drive action, that become the fuel for design, marketing, innovation, supply chain, retail, and every other facet of an organization. It cuts through the clutter, the noise, through the constant barrage of information and speaks clearly and concisely.
As Guy Kawasaki says, we have to constantly ask ourselves, "So what?" It's not fun, but it has to be asked. Ask yourself "So what?" at regular intervals. See if there's anything you can take out, anything you can simplify. Use visualization and prototyping to tell complex stories in an instant. Above all, don't let yourself fall into the trap of mistaking information for knowledge.
Labels: research
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