One of my presentations at next month's KM World & Intranets conference is about adding meaning and value to information. This article reflects some of my early thinking on this subject.
The word 'understand', which does not appear to have a precise counterpart in any other language, literally means "comprehend (=grasp) and appreciate(=be able to evaluate)
sufficiently to pass on to others". It is about instructions and the
passing on of those instructions down the hierarchy. In English, then,
there is a sense that "Do you understand?" means more than "Do you
comprehend?" -- it means "Do you know what you must therefore do and
tell others to do?" I'll avoid the temptation to infer how this
reflects on both the exaggerated importance of hierarchy, and the
sometimes perverse purpose of the education system, in anglophone
nations.
Most other languages use the term comprehend (=grasp) instead, though most have a second word equivalent to the French entendre (=stretch toward)
to convey a nuance of the learning process that English seems to
ignore. The 'understanding' process in other languages, then, is not
just a means for passing on instructions, but rather a means of coming
together, a meeting of minds, for no necessary purpose than the sheer
joy of communicating, sharing thoughts powerfully and effectively. It
was of course an anglophone, GB Shaw, who said "The biggest problem
with communication is the illusion that it has occurred". To us
anglophones, I guess, the only way we know if our communication was
'understood' is if it was effectively conveyed on and carried out by
our subordinates. No wonder there's no precise English translation for joie de vivre!
So how do we 'understand'? By what process do we 'grasp' and 'stretch
toward' each other to gain meaning and value from the information we
convey? And what tools and devices can we employ to do so more
effectively?
To answer these questions I went through a cross section of my library,
and websites about learning, comprehension and communication, and
compiled the following table of processes, results of those processes,
and supporting tools that can be used to enhance understanding.
It's strictly a subjective sampling, but I think you'll find it
interesting:
| Processes that Add Meaning to Information: |
Valuable 'End-Products' of these Processes: |
Some Tools Supporting these Processes: |
Reflecting/considering
Interpreting
Drawing on examples from personal experience
Combining/integrating with other personal knowledge |
Context
Insights |
Training: Critical/Analytical Thinking
Desktop search tools (for combining) |
Synthesizing/distilling
Simplifying (without over-simplifying) |
Synopses |
Blogs/diaries
Storyboards
Cartoons
Mindmaps/concept maps
FAQs |
Imagining
Applying |
Applications (real and potential)
Tests of learning/understanding
Practice |
Training: Creative thinking
Self-tests & exercises |
Illustrating
Modeling
Systems thinking
Mapping |
Models
Representations
Systems diagrams
Maps |
Visualizations & graphics
Tables
Ecolanguage (animated visualizations)
Single frames
Mapping/systems thinking tools |
Reading/hearing/internalizing stories
Narrating/memorizing/retelling stories |
Lessons/learnings
Vicarious experiences
Experience-lesson connections
Strong memories
Story personalization |
Storytelling templates/models (myths, fables etc.)
Storyboards
Blogs
Storybooks/periodicals (e.g. New Yorker)
Cartoons
Training: Listening/storytelling skills |
Analyzing
Inferring significance
Inferring consequences
Deciding on resultant actions |
Implications
Action plans |
Analytical report templates (structured thinking etc.)
|
Reorganizing
Analogizing
Restating ("in other words")
Re-enacting/re-framing |
Metaphors/analogies/allegories
Alternative perspectives
Shoe-were-on-the-other-foot POV |
|
Recording/photographing
Observing first-hand |
Reviewable detailed recordings/transcripts
Observations (objective and subjective)
Interviews |
Recording tools
Cameras/SVP tools
Cultural anthropology tools |
Conversing/consulting
Canvassing/surveying
Collaborating |
Others' experiences/additional information
Others' interpretations/perspectives/ideas/POV
Collective wisdom |
All P2P communication tools (telephone etc.)
Conversation tools (talking stick etc.)
Collaboration tools (wikis, whiteboards etc.)
Collaboration methods (Open Space etc.)
Wisdom of Crowds/surveying tools
Directories/people-finders/social network maps |
|
|
|
(You
may have noticed that newspapers and other news media and 'feeds' don't
make my table at all. That reflects my bias, I suppose, that this
information is meaning- and context-free, and hence for the most part has no value at all.)
I'm
still thinking about all this, so if I'm missing any important
processes, tools or end-products that help add meaning to information,
please let me know and I'll add them.
This adding-of-meaning is mitigated by a lot of endemic dysfunctional information behaviours
that we are all prone to (arising from information politics,
information unawareness, faulty sense-making and poor
information-sharing reward systems), and specifically the five hurdles to effective communication that tend to impede meaning from being conveyed:
- inability to explain or convey information due to limitations of language
- inability to articulate events or ideas clearly
- unreadiness of our audience
- inattention of our audience
- incompatibility of our mental frames and filters with those of others
Collectively,
all the 'end-products' in the middle column of the table above
constitute our 'understanding' of the information and the issue behind
it. These end-products allow us to 'make sense' of the information we
read, see and hear. The more extensive and effective the processes
followed (from the first column), therefore, the greater will be our
understanding.
Our preference for, and the amount of value we
get from, the different 'end-products' varies greatly by individual,
and is a function of how we learn -- some learn best by reading, others
by synthesizing, listening, visualizing, observing, or doing hands-on.
No one process, tool or end-product 'fits all'.
As information
professionals, and as educators, we need, I think, to develop a greater
appreciation of how we come to understand (and sometimes misunderstand)
information. If we want our co-workers, and those we love, to be more
understanding and more effective learners, we need to study the
processes that they use (and fail to use, or use badly) to process
information. We need to appreciate the learning/understanding
'end-products' that they
value, and help them become more adept at using the tools that support
the mental processes that underlie these end-products. We need to work with
them, one-on-one, to help them improve their
information processes, and hence produce more valuable information
'end-products', for their own comprehension and for conveying it to
others. We need to become more adept as using these tools ourselves,
and, as information intermediaries, we need to use these tools more
extensively to enhance and add value to the content we manage before
we disseminate it to others. And we need to develop new and better
information processing tools -- tools that add meaning and value to
information, rather than just shuffling it around in its 'raw' state.
Currently,
we spend the lion's share of our time acquiring, storing, compiling,
organizing, and disseminating information, with little or no thought of
how the 'listener' will use it. If we can get away from our 'content'
role and start devoting more of our time in a 'context' role --
observing and teaching people how to use the content effectively in the context of their own jobs and lives -- we might just find that our value to the organizations we serve and the people we love will go up immeasurably.
Postscript:
The final version of the table above will include hotlinks to web pages
on each of the tools in the right column. When I've done that, I'll
repost this article to include these links.
|
MADE IN CANADA
trust your
instincts 
