Are you on information overload?
In this age of the information super highway small businesses and indeed, individuals, are constantly bombarded with what is euphemistically called “information”.
When I was working and traveling, I used to enjoy the nine-hour, polar flight from Seattle to London. I was out of touch and could collect my thoughts and think about important issues (or not).
In today’s world everyone is wired, connected and incapable of avoiding all this “information” whether you want to or not.
First of all, what is information? What do you do with this information and how do you assemble it into a something to draw from in running your business.
I have a five-stage description this process.
First comes data. Frequently this is raw data, which is unchecked for accuracy and prejudice. The Internet is a great source of unchecked data. Where did it come from? Who is offering it? Why are they offering it? Even if it is accurate, is it relevant? Do you really need to know it? Sometimes articles or sources seem relevant, but after investing time and effort in this data, you find it is not. Data is not information. It’s just a compilation of statements, and numbers. Frequently it is inaccurate, misleading, irrelevant, and just plain wrong. Beware of data masquerading as information.
Secondly comes information. Information is data that has been authenticated and is unbiased. It is useful and useable. It is frequently a collection of data organized into something you want or need.
Next comes knowledge. Knowledge occurs when you have a significant amount of information about a given topic. It is information organized in such a way that you can solve problems and work out issues related to that topic. Knowledge in a given topic grows as you learn more and more about that topic. When we are young and graduate with a degree or some specific training, we think we know a lot. But this is just the beginning stage of growing your knowledge. The degree gives us the tools to learn.
Fourth on the list is judgment. We can never possess all the knowledge there is even about a narrow topic that we have studied for a lifetime. Judgment is the process you use when you don’t quite know enough about a topic. You use your judgment (combined with all your knowledge) to make a decision or take some action. It is often said that judgment is based on experience and experience is based on bad judgment. You draw from that experience in making these types of decisions when you don’t quite know enough. Many cases it is better to make some decision (any decision) rather than procrastinate and make no decision. Sometimes, however, you need to collect more information and gain more knowledge before making the decision. The trick, of course, is to know when to do one or the other. You need to spend time organizing your ignorance as well as working on your knowledge. You need to know what you know and what you don’t know. Many people go through life not knowing what they don’t know. This is very risky.
Finally after judgment comes wisdom. Wisdom, if it comes at all, comes after decades of applying good judgment. Probably some higher being is the only one that really knows if we are wise.
One of the benefits of this five-step process is that it helps you work on the right problem. Many small business owners spend only a short time determining the problem. They then spend an inordinate amount of time solving this problem, only to find out that it wasn’t the real problem after all. An average solution to the right problem is much better than the perfect solution to the wrong problem. So, invest some time in finding out what the problem is. Understand the difference between being efficient and being effective by spending the right amount of time on the right subject..
Effective small business owners develop a good solution to the right problem.
This article was written by Seattle SCORE Chapter member Fred Parkinson for the Kitsap Sun in Bremerton.