Information Management
& Technology
“Success in information management
is 5% technology, and 95%
psychology.” – Tom Peters
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Overview
1.
2.
3.
4.
Sensemaking
Information Politics
Information Management
So What?
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1. Sensemaking
A. What is sensemaking?
“The making of sense”
“Structure of the unknown”
It is active not passive
B. What sensemaking is NOT?
Interpretation
C. Central Questions
How do people make sense?
Why do people make sense in the way they do?
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D. Attributes of Sensemaking
1. Grounded in identity construction
Protective of self
Consistent with positive self-conception
Linked to roles
2. Retrospective
Reflective
Based on memory
Synthesizes equivocal experience
Provides order, clarity and rationality
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Attributes cont.
3. Category and schema creating
Creates new features
Brackets reality
4. Social
Names become “good enough” to meet needs
5. Ongoing
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Attributes cont.
6. Focused on and by extracted cues
Based on familiarity
Kenneth Burke, terminology is a reflection,
selection and deflection of reality
7. Driven by plausibility rather than accuracy
Accuracy is subordinate to coherence and
pragmatics
Speed is more important than
comprehensiveness
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E. How do we sensemake in
organizations?
Create vocabularies
Develop procedures for categorizing
Cultivate “thought-terminating clichés”
Hold meetings
Create, filter and distribute information
Cultivate political structures
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2. Information Politics
A. Why do we have information politics?
“Information is not innocent.” James March
“One reason the stakes are so high in
information politics is that more than
information is at stake” (Davenport)
“Information sometimes feels as common in
organizations as water; since its so plentiful,
there is a natural instinct to channel it rather
than drown in it.” (Davenport)
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B. Info. Politics Continuum
Monarchy
Federalism
Feudalism
More
Anarchy
Less
Centralization of Control
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C. Evaluating the Info. Politics
Monarchy Federalism Feudalism
Anarchy
Common
vocabulary
Info.
Access
Quality of
Info
Efficiency
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3. Information Management
A. What are the goals of system?
Reasonable accuracy
Timeliness
Accessibility
Engagement
Applicability
Rarity
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B. What are key information tasks?
Pruning
Contextualizing
Enhancing Style
Variation
Interactive
Push-pull
Staging
Dramatizing
Choosing the right medium
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C. Linking tasks to goals
Pruning
Providing
Context
Enhancing
style
Choosing
channels
Accuracy
Timeliness
Accessibility
Engagement
Applicability
Rarity
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4. So what?
Take into account sensemaking
Conduct research on opinions and organizational
climate
Tell the right stories about the past (revise history)
Link memories to the present
Integrate information from various sources (often
uncontrollable)
Use technologies to understand and shape sensemaking
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So what cont.
Manage the information politics
Elect the right information politicians
Select the right political system
Avoid information “silos”
Match information policies to organizational
mission
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So what cont.
Add value to information
Recognize that sensemaking trumps
information sharing
Distinguish between information and
knowledge problems (What is a knowledge
repository?)
Realize limits of technology to facilitate
sensemaking
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