castiles

“The old computing was about what computers could do; the new computing is about what users can do.” (Shneiderman, 2002, p. 2) Old computing was not easily accessed or used by the “common man”. The computer prior to the personal computer or PC was anything but personal, and required a high degree of knowledge to operate and maintain. The fact that the old computer filled an entire room also made it less than personal and out of reach to the “average Joe”. The old computer spoke a language all its own. The modern-day PC is a kinder, gentler, more accessible, and much more compact entity. Bringing a wealth of knowledge and information to everyone, is the goal of hardware and software manufacturers the world over.

Technological advances practically take care of themselves, pushing the PC processors from current speeds to faster speeds in a logical forward motion, increasing memory, and continually putting these into more compact components. The difficulty of the new computing is making programs that can be used universally by even the most novice of users. “Linking the high-tech world more closely to the needs of people still requires some new forms of thinking.” (Shneiderman, 2002, p. 3)

It is clear that Shneiderman’s use of Leonardo Di Vinci as a muse for methods and practices in new computing is brilliant. It must seem strange to some to base new ideas on the methods and practices of someone from the fifteenth century. However, Leonardo’s body of works clearly suggests that he may have been able to see into the future, or if you believe in such, had been to the future. Leonardo was certainly a master of many things, and defined the Renaissance Era. I’m sure that Tom Peters would agree that Di Vinci was a master of L2, Develop an Aspiring Vision.

Leonardo had great attention to detail in all the projects, artistic and scientific, that he labored. He left his teachers and contemporaries behind and surpassed their abilities. He exemplified the qualities of a leader and demonstrated compassion for the less fortunate; he was an all around good guy. He was an innovator, inventor, artist, scientist, painter, architect, sculptor, engineer and leader. What many may not be aware of is that he was the “poster child” for early research and development. “Leonardo recognized the importance of collecting previous work as a basis for new work. He had a personal library of forty-five classic books and had access to several libraries, at a time when books were still rare. He discussed some of his explorations with others and learned what he needed from scholar friends…”(Shneiderman, 2002, p. 216) He researched projects by reviewing his previous works, reviewing others’ past works, surveying colleagues, and relied heavily on scientific experimentation for the development of his masterpieces.

Interestingly, yet not surprisingly, Leonardo’s methods for research and development are similar to Shneiderman’s Four Stages of Activities, collect, relate, create and donate.

Collect all information from previous work.
Relate by consulting with peers.
Create is the development or experimentation activity.
Donate means to give the final product to whomever it was intended even if that was simply yourself.

“The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.” http://www.drawingsofleonardo.org/ This quote and many of his drawings can be found on this website. Leonardo believed in sharing that joy with those around him through his works, many of which clarified the mysteries of the day. “He made painstaking observations and carried out research in fields ranging from architecture and civil engineering to astronomy to anatomy and zoology to geography, geology and paleontology.” http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/vinci.html As is true today, much important research and development begins and refines by way of observation. If you Google “observation skills test”, it will show you several sites, which allow a person to assess their observation skills.

Leonardo Di Vinci is clearly a formidable example of a leader in research and development, who saw the value of observation. Many of his artistic works, as well, were based on observations he made walking through the town. He would paint people from memory, a clear sign that he had superior observation skills. Here’s an observation; I wonder if Leonardo could foresee a movie, which relies heavily on his life and works, called The Di Vinci Code. Without a doubt, observation of Leonardo Di Vinci is time well spent.

Shneiderman, B. (2002). Leonardo's Laptop. Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press.

Posted by castiles at 10:46 PM | Permalink

Competitive Intelligence in a Scale of Strategy (Defining the six step process in CI strategies)

This paper will continue the discussion of Competitive Intelligence strategies touched on in my “Mind Over Matters: Mental attitudes toward knowledge-value, information strategies, and competitive intelligence” and how every CI plan evolves within Information Strategies. The strategies used to gain competitive intelligence and information must be constants, meaning there is always a strategy in place in the daily routine of any business; the information the strategies gather and disperse is the variable. In order to have a “well-oiled machine” running your information “mechanism”, a clear strategy must be defined, distributed, and understood by everyone involved in the success or failure achieving process.

Everyone knows that “necessity is the mother of invention”. So once you have determined what your needs are, then you have to invent a plan to fill those needs. In the case of Competitive Intelligence, those needs are defined as key intelligence topics (KIT) (Prescott & Miller, 2001, p. 240). Key Intelligence Topics are descriptors of the information areas required to run and advance the business, from process strategies to human resource guidelines.

The process of using KITs for competitive intelligence requires action (which will be a recurring theme in this dissertation) that is responsive or proactive. Both modes are essential. The responsive mode is how a company responds to requests or needs for information or intelligence. Proactive “requires the manager of the intelligence unit to take the initiative and interview the appropriate company managers and decision makers, to help them identify and define their intelligence requirements.” (Prescott & Miller, 2001, p. 250) The proactive step is imperative to defining how the competitive intelligence and information vital to the business will be networked to all the necessary persons. In order to network anything, the what, who, why, how and when must be determined. CI and information networking require action from all employees, not just the intelligence/information department.

As can be seen in each step of the CI strategy, an information strategy must be in place to convey the KITs to the team. Likewise, a strategy is used to coordinate, distribute, process, store, collect, analyze, and disseminate the competitive “information”. “Information is knowledge in motion.” (Gillette, 2000) When your competitive intelligence is not moving, it is simply intelligence or knowledge. In order to be successful, the knowledge base must be in constant motion. Ideas cannot be useful, if they are sitting in “storage”. Action is the key to strategy. Strategy is defined as “coordinated action through time.” (Gillette, Strategy Development for the Information Economy: A Practical Guide to Coordinated Action through Time, 2006, p. 1) As is obvious in Table 2, the steps of CI Strategies are action demanding.

Information Networking (Who needs, what they need, and how we “stick” it to them.)

“Information networking (is) the movement and use of information, filtered and refined by knowledge workers.” (Gillette, Strategy Development for the Information Economy: A Practical Guide to Coordinated Action through Time, 2006, p. 3) The sixth step of the CI strategy is dissemination or information networking. As with most great processes, there are six steps to networking information as described in Dr. Gillette’s paper. Table 2 illustrates how similar the six steps of Information Strategies and Competitive Intelligence are.

Any process, as with these, begins with a decision to act; in this case it starts from a need or an idea. The next obvious step is deciding what to do with that idea or about that need. Vision, planning and direction all equal a coordinated plan of action; or defining what will be involved in the process. Steps three both involve the execution of the strategy, or communicating and processing. Steps four, five and six in the simplest of terms describe the actions required to successfully network information some of which would encompass competitive intelligence necessary to business operations. The most important part of the chart is the end goal or result; and in order to get there, follow through is vital. Most would agree that the plan or process is only as good as the outcome.

It cannot be stressed enough that information networking requires a strategy that is continually being updated and refined to meet the only constant, change. “Strategic planning is a continuous process that feeds into the decision to act, to take action. Since change in the information economy is constant, constant planning and adjustments need to be introduced to into the strategy to keep it viable.” (Gillette, Strategy Development for the Information Economy: A Practical Guide to Coordinated Action through Time, 2006, p. 9)

As stated earlier, plans are only as good as their outcomes. A vital part of ensuring the desired and envisioned outcome, is how that plan is networked or communicated. Nothing is worse than having a plan “blow up in your face”, because one of the key players did not understand their role in it. Knowing what information should be shared, how it should be shared, and who it should be shared with, is the job of the intelligence/information specialist.

“If knowledge is power, the information needed to carry out a strategy is empowering.” The way this information is communicated can strengthen or weaken the power of the knowledge or strategy. Clarity can be difficult to achieve in environments where diversity of age, race, education, and job function is prominent. Finding innovative and clear ways to make the information “stick” is the foundation of good strategy. Communicating well will enable all members of the team or employees of the company to execute their jobs to their fullest potential for the betterment and achievement of all corporate goals.
Information in Action (Keep moving forward)

Continually adapting to today’s changing information economy, is a necessary step to ensure the livelihood of corporate America. Information and Intelligence agents who can clearly and decisively meets the communication and networking needs of the business will be the most successful. If knowledge is power, than sharing it is wealth. Broadening the wealth of knowledge will lead to a broadening of wealth as well. Knowing who, how and when to share the wealth is the “trick” to being a leader in the information economy.

References
Gillette, J. E. (2000). "Information is Knowledge in Motion": A Practical Framework for Understanding Knowledge Management. Muncie: CICS Ball State University.
Gillette, J. E. (2006). Strategy Development for the Information Economy: A Practical Guide to Coordinated Action through Time. (Chicago, Ed.) Annual Review of Communications , 59.
Prescott, J. E., & Miller, S. H. (2001). Proven Strategies in Competitive Intelligence: Lessons from the Trenches. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Posted by castiles at 11:20 AM | Permalink