Immutable Laws of Information

[Frank J. Ricotta, Jr. <0005513435 () mcimail com>]

Dave,

This is an article I wrote for Information Week.  It should be published
this week.  If you think it fits the interesting people distro list go ahead
and send it out.  I'd love to get some opinions from the network on the
concepts behind the laws.  

Frank

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THE IMMUTABLE LAWS OF INFORMATION
by 
Frank J. Ricotta Jr.

The power of information.  Unless you've been totally shut off from the rest
of the world, it's a statement that you have probably heard in one form or
another from a lot of different sources.  You might have even used it 
yourself to persuade your boss to buy the latest piece of technology that
guaranteed to improve employee productivity by 200%.  

The truth of the matter is that real productivity has only increased about
5%, despite all the investment in information technology.  This fact leaves
most people wondering -- "If information is so powerful, why isn't 
this power contributing to increased productivity?"  

The answer is simple.  Most organizations fail to understand that
information behavior does not comply with the traditional laws of
organizational politics.  Rather, information obeys its own laws.  By
understanding how these laws affect your organizational dynamics, you can
begin to take advantage of the real power of information.  

The following six immutable laws of information can be applied to any
business operation regardless of product focus, size, and complexity.

ROSS PEROT LAW:  Information doesn't care about organizational politics or
institutional boundaries.  The fastest way to flatten an organization is to
give employees a means to send and receive information on an ad hoc basis to
anyone in the company -- including the CEO.  Start by identifying Email as a
mission-critical application, and then stand back and watch what happens. 
Informal work groups will begin to form.  Introverts will participate and
share their ideas more freely.  Middle level bureaucrats will go into
cardiac arrest because they will no longer be in control of what information
enters and leaves their fiefdom.

ADVANTAGE LAW:  Getting information to the people who need it when they need
it will provide the two key components for an organization to be successful
in a chaotic world:  speed and flexibility.  The organization who can
predict customer needs, respond to customer desires, and react to customer
problems the fastest will corner the lion's share of business.  In essence,
the ultimate goal is to reduce overall cycle time for informed action. 
Information provides the foundation to do this.

FREE FLOW LAW:  Information can be everywhere at anytime instantaneously. 
The law, when applied correctly, can yield tremendous benefits.  In essence,
organizations no longer need to consider employee co-location as a factor in
determining where a given operation is performed.  This law brings us back
full circle to our ancient ancestors.  Group dynamics experts and
anthropologists agree that anything productive stems from a team of
approximately 8 or less.  Until recently, we have abandoned this philosophy
in our day to day work environments simply because everyone needed to
accomplish a task does not work in the same facility.  Information networks
have concurred this hurdle.  The new wave of productivity software labeled
"groupware" is designed to take us back in time and re-establish the small
and highly focused workgroup as the heart of the organization.

FREE FORM LAW:  Information can exist in multiple forms (i.e. voice, video,
text, images).  Everyone assimilates information differently.  Some learn
linearly and some learn visually.  End systems need to be able to adapt to
how each and every individual learns in order to maximize information
retention.

CONTENT LAW:  Not all information results in knowledge.  In an
information-based world, we constantly get deluged with a lot of noise.  One
of the most perplexing problems is how do you filter the relevant 
information from the noise in order for an individual to gain knowledge? 
Ultimately it is the responsibility of each individual to do this for
themselves.  Over the next week, make a conscious effort to examine your 
information needs and information flow.  What information is noise?  What
information produces knowledge?  What information do you have that someone
else could use?  What information does someone else have that you need?  The
answers to these questions can be rather enlightening.

MILITARY CONFLICT LAW:  Information doesn't carry a gun or wage war.
However, information or mis-information has been the catalyst for the
majority of conflicts in the world today.  An individual's perception is
directly related to the information he/she receives.  Consequently,
information quality and accuracy are extremely important.  

By studying these laws and determining how they impact your organization,
you will begin to realize where information technology has been applied
inefficiently and where it can still be applied to improve individual 
effectiveness.  

When these laws are applied on an organizational wide basis, the entire
personality of your company will change, and in the end it is the customer
who will benefit.  Effective utilization of these laws will allow your 
organization to put on the facade of a craftsman who is willing to do
anything to make a customer happy.  While behind the scenes, your
organization will be a lien, efficient, and well-run institution capable of 
competing in the 90s and beyond.  

WARNING:  Ignoring these laws can be hazardous to your organization's
survival and to your job security.