Connecting the dots between information and knowledge

Real Knowledge is to know the extent of one´s ignorance

Confucius

Last week I was perusing Facebook, as I sometimes do when I have some minutes free – more always than sometimes, to be true. I came across with a very interesting image of three clocks, one next to each other. They compared the pace of three different aspects of every day: Time, information and Knowledge

• Time: the clock hands moved at a regular pace, about 5 seconds to give a full turn.

• Information: the hands were like crazy, about 20 times the speed of the “time clock”

• Knowledge: the hands were stuck in number 6, like defeated. They tried to go up, but keep coming back to the 6.

I tried to find this gif image again, but I was unable to find it, in spite of googling it by using all the combination of words possible, and rummaging through all my contacts of Facebook. That’s the problem with this amount of information. You can never find it when you really need it.

So let`s try to make my point.

Everybody says we now live in the “knowledge” era. Information is the main asset for Companies, as well as the people who possess it. Learning Knowledge Management is vital for managers who are constantly adapting to the pace of chance. And that pace is fast…very fast! Change is the new constant.

Managers must learn to scan information, disregard the “fillings”, and get the essence in minutes in order to share the knowledge to others in the organization. This must be made under certain criteria aligned to the values and objectives of the company.

But what happens when we take that aspect to our personal life?

What do we do with all the information that travel constantly in the Matrix? We tend to be more worried to get “likes” or “shares” in our social networks than properly build our knowledge. Information is all scattered, like dots, and it is getting more and more difficult to connect it together.

But here`s the paradox. How can we use the time more efficiently, to create knowledge, without being cast away from society?

• Align your social media priorities: Build the networks that may expose you or your business in the net. If you have some free minutes, don´t jump straight to scan if your bestie went to the supermarket and posted such a great discount, or if there is a new video of little kittens available. Instead of that, share your business, know what your colleagues and customers are thinking.

• Polish the profile you want to be recognized. It may be your LinkedIn profile or the Facebook or Instagram page of your business. Make it interesting, and do not mix the purpose of the networks. Understand the use of each one and explode it to the maximum: share, like, retweet, comment and build your network. Invite everyone interested in that and follow the trend setters.

•  Define 2 or 3 webpages you find interesting and related to your business:  so if you have some minutes you are one click (or tap) away from learning on the last trends of your field.

•  Have one hard cover book on your desk: sometimes we need to rest our view from a screen. What better than a good old book to read on a coffee break, or after returning home. And yes, they still exist.

•  Learn to manage your emails: how many spam or “urgent” mails we receive per day that take away our focus on our tasks? One task at a time. Check your emails every half an hour, not every second.

•  WhatsApp: same idea. While I was writing this post, I have two phone calls, and 40 messages...on a Sunday afternoon! I stopped to answer or check them every time and took me like 15 minutes of extra time.

So let´s take advantage of the knowledge era. Let´s transform those dots into a line, and learn to manage time instead of letting time managing you.

Ps: two days after..it appered in a 9gag post...the little paradox of life...