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Last session’s reading was The Best of All Worlds: Information Ecology” by Thomas H. Davenport. Hm. Where have I encountered that name before? In any case, he says if you think holistically about an organization, there are four key attributse of information ecology:

1. Recognition of Evolutionary Change
2. Integration of Diverse Types of Information
3. Emphasis on Obseervation and Description
4. Focus on People and Information Behavior

He also formulated a model for Information Management.

During the discussion, we were talking about perfect management. How one information environment should be prioritized over another. Of course, we all agreed, being professionals, that there is no such thing as perfect management. What you would rant about in your work/job now would probably still be the same thing that you’ll be ranting about in your next workplace.

But mostly, we were discussing about how information is managed in the workplace. Everything has to do with information. From your strategy, to your politics, to your behavior and culture, to your staff, to your information processes, to your information architecture. I have no wish to delve into this in the manner that the article was written, for even my professor agrees that it can be quite boring (no offense to Mr. Davenport).

When asked if one area of the model is more important than the others, my classmate replied that staff should be the most important. Perhaps I should agree, since everything begins from the human mind anyway. Human beings organize process flows, which eventually leads to the formulation of your information architecture. They formulate strategies. Human beings are also responsible for making up the general culture and behavior of your company. Culture begets politics. It’s human nature.

I guess the gist of it is that information evolves, and it does so because of human hands. People’s needs and wants change and information must change in order to support those needs.