The Physics of Information
Below is a post from Robert Patterson's weblog:
Weblogs and the Structural Environment in Organization - Lessons from the US Army and BP. THE PHYSICS OF INFORMATION: This phrase has been rattling around my sub-conscious for a couple of weeks now. Ray Ozzie and I spoke at a government event a couple of weeks ago where I met JC Herz. JC was talking about the power of weblogs in organizations. She spoke of the power of weblogs to deliver organization-wide edge awareness, and more importantly, provide weak signal amplification of thoughts and ideas that would be lost without the medium. At several points in the presentation, she referenced the notion of the "physics of information" which caught my attention.
JC is on to something here. The Physics of Information could be defined similarly to how we look at the physics of nature: Information is made up of matter, and when consumed by people, creates energy. The "matter" of information is data, and when information contains multiple data points, it delivers meaning. It's also clear that information yields energy. Larry Prusak convinced me several years ago that information is cool, but it's the energy that's created when it is consumed and shared by people that transforms organizational thinking and decision process. It's the collision of people and information that creates the energy which drives decision superiority and/or innovation, and it is borne from highly stochastic, collaborative interactions. But the real operational challenge is understanding the affect of information matter, and understanding what causes the resultant energy.
While process improvement is quite interesting, understanding the physics of the information can make enterprise processes scream, thereby ensuring the maximum extraction of value because it can be directed at specific workgroups. Raw meta identification based solely on information matter is only half the job. Tagging the information with constituencies that will turn the information into energy is the missing link in many organizations.
[Michael Helfrich's Radio Weblog]
I suspect that we need more than the technology of blogging to get the most effective"collision" that Michael talks about above. The US Army and BP have worked hard to shift the culture towards cooperation and to find the structural links between the tactical and the strategic that can be bridged with the technology.
What does this mean in practice? At one of my clients, a major Family Restaurant chain in Canada, we are trying the following. At the restaurant level we plan to set up the process of using After Action Reviews (AARs) to capture the key experience-based lessons that occur at the work unit. How to deal with rowdy customers, how to take 5 minutes off the order time, what to do when short staffed etc. The Franchisee participates in the local AAR. The Franchisees will be linked with either a weblog or by Groove to each other and will be set up as a Community of Practice. Not only will the lessons from the front line be talked about here but also the strategic direction of the enterprise. Larger topics such as how best to open a new restaurant, new menu items, HR issues etc will be talked about here.
I have had a lot of help in this design from Col Ed Guthrie, who worked for General Sullivan (Hope is not a Method) Ed was a key driver behind the Army's ability to learn and cooperate across the silos. The results have been showcased in Iraq. Ed has worked with a number of firms since his retirement including BP. Ed is one of the clearest thinkers on the topic of how you change the culture and install the connecting structures.
[Robert Paterson's Radio Weblog]
7:54:34 AM 
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