Information Overload in Information Management

“Just as fat has replaced starvation as the nation's number one dietary concern, information overload has replaced scarcity as an important new emotional, societal, and political problem.”

– David Shenk Surviving the Information Glut

We find ourselves in a situation today of having too much information. In many cases, one can speak of information surplus flowing through the "organizational pipelines." Yet, the use of information is still far from optimal.

The Data Warehouse world attempts to address this problem by providing tools for filtering, processing, and presenting data as information to managers. At the dawn of an era where we are beginning to manage knowledge, and in a computerized manner, we must be careful not to fall into the same trap. A knowledge surplus is even more dangerous to the organization, as data that serves as a source for information at least assists in the routine management of the business, even if not utilized intelligently. But what use is knowledge that accumulates and is difficult to navigate and know when and under what circumstances to use?

Understanding the depth of the problem is halfway to the solution. If we engrave on our path "focused knowledge management" and ask ourselves at every stage:

• What organizational purpose does this specific knowledge management serve?

• How much does it help?

• How much does knowledge management cost?

• Do we use the managed knowledge, and how much?

If we ask ourselves all these questions and manage knowledge only if the answers are satisfactory, then (hopefully) we will succeed in avoiding the "obesity problems" of information overload.

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Want to learn more about KM strategy?

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• Knowledge Discovery

• Predictably Irrational -Book Review

• Knowledge Management for improving the organizational supply chain