Once upon a time people in Information Management decided that they wanted a cool new name or two. Taxonomy was becoming Taxidermy so they absconded with Ontology and twisted its meaning. They they decided that they were into Knowledge Management, but in practice all they did was to create Information Management Systems. Now they are moving on and talking about WIsdom Management. Even one respectable University is doing this, but guess how? They are setting up a web site for people to exchange ideas and engage in richer conversations through online discussion forums. So once again the solution is Information Management. OK I may be doing them an injustice, studying wisdom is obviously a good thing, as is using information technology to help. But it's not wise to use a structured environment; the fragmented and connected world of social computing is not only more effective, it is more adaptable and more open. As to consultants who want to peddle wisdom management; may the Lord have mercy on their souls, as I certainly won't. I may loose a few friends over it. Steve Denning is defending the idea on the ActKM forum and I praying that he is just being provocative, seeking to raise a reaction.
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Comments (6)
Just tell me that this isn't serious, PLEASE?
I'm an information manager not a wise woman -- and besides which in times past wise women were considered to be witches and drowned or burned!
Posted by Hazel | April 14, 2008 8:59 AM
Posted on April 14, 2008 08:59
as I mentioned before, the german language does not even have a word for "management". And the claim that one (who?) could MANAGE WISDOM?
Posted by christianhauck![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.cognitive-edge.com/blogs/dave/nav-commenters.gif)
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April 14, 2008 9:42 AM
Posted on April 14, 2008 09:42
The changing lexicon appears to reflect our attempts to feel we have some control over the increasing amounts of information that become available through an increasing number of sources. Thus, data management became information management, then knowledge management ... and now "wisdom management"? To borrow from Shakespeare, that which we call information by any other name would be as overwhelming.
Wisdom is not about information, it is about how we apply it. We learn, and become (we hope) wise, through synthesis of information—which will differ according to one's situation, knowledge, and cultural context. Wisdom is a human process, not a database that we can manage. The most we can hope for is to facilitate the knowledge sharing that supports the process.
Posted by Karla McKee | April 15, 2008 2:47 AM
Posted on April 15, 2008 02:47
for almost 15 years now, it has been a shame that the intellectual capital charlatans and cross-over bpr snake oil boys have been promoting the false management-of-knowledge notion. it is predicable that they find their next-in-the-series follow-on routines rather than actually question the validity of the their mechanical and simpleton thinking. as is always the case, there needs to be a big win in the marketplace for the practitioners who actually do the science, and work to understand the true nature of human knowledge as being - what it is 'to know' for the broader lemming-like consulting community to adopt a corrected course. until then, the hype around 'wisdom' as an 'if-then-else' statement will most likely be served up, profited upon, and continue to misguide.
Posted by Terrence Yelmene | April 15, 2008 12:24 PM
Posted on April 15, 2008 12:24
Interestingly Steve Denning has failed to respond to my request for him to confirm that he is not writing a book on Wisdom Management. Worrying ....
Posted by Dave Snowden![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.cognitive-edge.com/blogs/dave/nav-commenters.gif)
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April 18, 2008 9:07 AM
Posted on April 18, 2008 09:07
Working with a well respected University that continues to misuse the word 'ontology' is bad enough but, quite frankly, the idea of wisdom 'management' is frightening. Do we not learn anything over the years?
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
T. S. Eliot (Choruses from the Rock)
Posted by Bob Gorzynski | April 23, 2008 11:22 PM
Posted on April 23, 2008 23:22