Online Information 2006
29 November 2006
Remarks by Janice R. Lachance, CEO, SLA
The topic of this session is very important to me, to SLA, and to the global community of information professionals. In a study of SLA member needs earlier this year, more than 70 percent of respondents indicated that their organization's perceptions of their value was a top professional concern. A similar percentage also cited a lack of involvement in shaping management decisions as a challenge.
Creating opportunities for success is truly important to you and to all information professionals because of three factors:
1. The acceleration of information overload.
2. The amazing pace of change in the business world.
3. The increasing pressures on organizational leaders to adapt to this changing environment quickly and efficiently--and over and over again.
Why are these factors directly affecting your opportunities? All three have an influence on the decision-making processes in any organization. The latter two affect everyone in an organization, so my advice to you is this: you must adapt to the pace of change, not simply change itself. Otherwise, you will encounter challenges that pose a far greater risk to your career.
But let's talk about the first factor I mentioned -- which is the acceleration of information overload. About 10 years ago, this phrase became very popular in the business world. At the time -- and today in many cases, many viewed the Internet and some popular search engines as the saviors that would deliver us from this menace. You can draw your own conclusions on how that view has played out.
I recently attended the Internet Governance Forum in Athens -- a United Nations event designed to address how the Internet is managed in the future -- and while there I had the good fortune to meet and talk with Vint Cerf, an American who is credited as one of the "founding fathers" of the Internet. He now holds the position of "Internet Evangelist" at Google, so you might expect him to have written off this profession. Instead, he wants to engage in a dialogue about the future of the profession. I'm looking forward to talking with him about the fact that you sit at the intersection of information gathering, analysis and organizational decision-making. That is the kind of conversation each one of you must have at your workplaces.
You know and I know that technology can help us filter non-essential information and streamline decision-making. But successful knowledge strategies and effective decision-making require human management. We have to convince others -- IT professionals and executive management, for starters -- that the results of the past 10 years' effort to invest in technology simply doesn't cut it. The trend toward questioning increased IT budgets is already gaining ground. But that won't stop marketing mavens from claiming that new products will allegedly solve everything. I believe every organization needs a "trusted intermediary" to make sure the right information reaches the right person, at the right time. And there's a lot of data out there that backs up what we already know.
In 2005 Bersin Associates conducted a survey of business executives to determine how they learn, stay informed, and access timely information. The results were quite interesting:
- While 71 percent felt they were well-informed, most admitted that they devote a significant amount of time to searching for information.
- 73 percent spend 2 to 4 hours per week searching for information.
- So taking into account the typical salary of a top executive, Bersin calculated that $1,000 or more per week is lost in time spent searching for information.
- And this doesn't even account for the cost of not devoting this time to running their operations.
But wait! There's more! Paul Strassman, the Distinguished Professor of Information Sciences at George Mason University near Washington, DC, has devoted his time to valuating knowledge within corporations. He has designed a fairly simple assessment: comparing the financial value of a company (assets, investments, etc.) with its market value (the value of all outstanding shares of stock), taking into account the volatility of a company's stock price. In an article for Baseline Magazine, Strassman analyzed the knowledge value of 7 companies in the pharmaceutical industry. Based on Strassman's theory, the knowledge valuation of these companies lay anywhere between 4 and 12 times their financial value. The pharmaceutical industry might be an extreme example, but applied across multiple industries, this theory reveals the value of knowledge within any company.
And just last month, Information World Review published a summary of the results from a survey of 650 information and IT professionals commissioned by VNU, its parent company.
The research highlighted that a staggering 40% of organizations do not have an information strategy at all, despite the fact that the majority of respondents described their biggest information management challenge as being ?information overload' and that 59% of organizations have an information team or manager.
The survey also revealed that the top five information management challenges faced by organizations are:
- Information overload (35%)
- Improving the quality of internal information (34%)
- Ensuring information is documented correctly in the first place (34%)
- Integrating structured and unstructured information (32%)
- Integrating content management and document management with search (27%)
And they found the biggest benefits of information management are seen as:
- improving business processes (56%)
- increasing staff productivity (53%)
- improving customer satisfaction (49%)
- and improved collaboration (46%)
Do we really need more to be convinced that you and your colleagues in the information profession should have significant roles in your organizations?
When it comes to organizational information needs, no one can match the skills or the placement of the information professional. Think about it: you or any one of your colleagues could very well be the hub of decisioning and learning within your organization. You'll see on the screen right now what I call the "Hub and Spoke" role of info pros. Because it's important not simply to make you feel better about your place in your organization. It's really about finding a way to position yourself with other people and groups within your organization.
By understanding your strengths, your blind spots, and how you can most effectively create value for your organization, you can regularly communicate the business reasoning for your role. And that is something you should always feel comfortable doing. If you aren't comfortable building your case, it's only a matter of time before someone else questions your value.
Having said this, you must prepare yourself for that role and I believe there is always room for growth in the skill set of the information professional in order to drive new value. In particular, we have to find ways to think strategically, with a focus on organizational goals, in order to gain support and attention from senior management. Many practicing information professionals have succeeded in doing this, but it's time to make their success the norm, rather than the exception, so that we can cause a transformation in how the information profession thinks and works.
No matter what area of practice, no matter the scope or scale of work, no matter what industry you work in, as information professionals you must align your thinking and actions with the leaders of change in your organization.
Ever since I joined the SLA leadership in 2003, I've repeated a quote from retired U.S. Army General Eric Shinseki many times. He is known for saying: "If you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance even less."
I've always believed that transforming one's career requires a change in perspective. It should bring a person into greater alignment with the goals of their organization, with the vision of your organization's leadership, and with the needs of customers, both internal and external. How does it happen? It's likely not the same for any two people, but I have some thoughts that can help to direct you.
This type of transformation of your value should begin with a clear understanding of your values and those of your employer. Of course, your values are likely to vary from those sitting to your right or your left, so we have to think in terms of the kinds of values that enhance your stature in your workplace.
Are you service oriented? Do you prefer collaborative decision making? Are you innovative? Do you expect diversity in the workplace? Is transparency something you desire?
If you have the vision and the ability to mesh your values with those of your employer, you are likely to have a much stronger affinity for your work life. A caveat, though: Success isn't necessarily an easy ride or a consistently upward track with corresponding salary. All of us encounter challenges where our values are tested, and sometimes we have to expend a little of our political capital in order to stand for what we believe. You will have to decide for yourself how best to manage the fork in the road.
Being flexible enough to adapt to changes in the workplace, in the market, even in your personal life is a key component of success and very important. I would submit that values shouldn't be sacrificed in the name of flexibility. Then again, I find that many people often become inflexible on matters they perceive are in conflict with their values. Upon further reflection, they might discover that the change they are facing might actually strengthen their values in the end.
If you have a clear understanding of your value and your values, and how they can mesh with the value and values of your organization, you are well on your way.
Now, let's be clear about the perspective that can yield the greatest benefit for one's career: the mindset of an executive. We may not always agree with or like the people who stand at the top of our organizations, but it makes sense think and work as though we were a part of that group of leaders. A colleague has often told me that, while she is not a CEO, she regularly asks herself, "What would I do if I were the CEO?" Is this risky thinking? Absolutely not! A well-known Native American proverb teaches us to "never criticize a man until you've walked a mile in his moccasins." If we change our perspective to consider how things are done at the top, we can begin to see things differently. But this yields another requirement for adopting the executive mindset.
To advance your growth, I recommend developing the capacity for conceptual thinking, or systems thinking. Linear thinking typically focuses on the starting point and moves toward an end. Conceptual thinking requires a holistic approach to a project or initiative, keeping the result in mind from start to finish. Why do this? It's my experience that, unless you can visualize where you want to go, you can't possibly know how to get there. Dan Pink, who authored the bestseller A Whole New Mind, believes that the future will be owned by conceptual thinkers. These are people who understand the importance of storytelling, design in every aspect of business, the symphony of ideas and goals, empathy for customers and colleagues, even the importance of play -- in the context of having fun while working hard, and finding meaning in the work that we do. For linear, analytical thinkers, this sounds quite questionable. But all around us, there are signs pointing to an increasing focus in these capacities.
Take, for example, design and the tea kettle. This quintessentially English object hasn't changed much over time. It's a vessel for holding water while it's being heated to a point where steam is forced out of its spout, thereby creating a whistling noise that tells you it's time for tea!
Enter Michael Graves, one of the most innovative designers in the world; you all know him. He's known for his architectural and design accomplishments, including libraries. In fact, he designed the Denver, Colorado Central Library, which you can see on the screen. Hopefully, those of you coming to SLA 2007 in Denver next year will get a chance to visit it!
Anyway, back to the tea kettle. Graves was commissioned by Alessi, the Italian product design firm, to create a range of products with a focus on the integration of design and utility. The result of his work shows in the "Whistling Bird" tea kettle, which is now considered a twentieth century design icon. Graves is renowned for transforming the essential use of buildings, furniture, and even kitchen tools into things that generate interest and value for the user.
His approach is one that, according to Dan Pink, is becoming increasingly necessary for sustaining value in the global marketplace. It is even being applied in the world of information. Just consider the use of blogs, wikis, RSS feeds and information architecture. Wikipedia refers to it as "An emerging community of practice focused on bringing principles of design and architecture to the digital landscape."
Conceptual thinking begins with the end -- the end of a project, the end of an initiative. Thinking about the end of your work will give you a vision for what you want to achieve. Psychologists believe that seeing in the mind's eye that which you wish to accomplish can make your path to reaching that goal more clear.
Envisioning the end of your endeavor is important -- it may the most important part of conceptual thinking. But it is fruitless unless you continue the process to the end of your work. That means you must avoid returning to linear thinking by seeing the entire picture of your work, its scope, and its impact on you, your organization, and other stakeholders. Many on my staff at SLA Headquarters make every effort to plan backwards, once they have conceptualized the end result of their work. Seeing how their efforts will unfold from the perspective of the end result allows them to accurately consider all opportunities, trouble spots, and the time required to complete their work.
Executive coach Steven Robbins describes working in the executive suite as the ultimate "buck stops here" scenario. At the heart of being an executive lies the capacity to make effective decisions with confidence. Robbins says, "an executive's job is making decisions from the perspective of the entire business. Executives think about making the entire business succeed, not just their own domain. Remember that grand vision statement your company spent so much time and attention creating? It's the executives who link the leadership vision with the strategy and tactics that get carried out." Getting to this point requires experience, confidence, the willingness to relinquish the notion that what we do or what we control is more important than achieving the goals of the organization.
The flexibility to embrace and even create change. Awareness of your value and your values. A vision for executive leadership. Conceptual thinking. The courage to make decisions. If you can move beyond the rational acceptance of these capacities and embrace them emotionally, within your core, you can adopt the executive mindset. Information professionals -- people who are very capable of gathering, sharing, and analyzing data, content, and knowledge -- are the next wave of workers who can transform themselves and become the leaders they should be.
At a recent conference I attended, a speaker was talking about the field of physics, and he made the wry observation that progress in the field of physics is made one funeral at a time.
At SLA, we are determined to making sure no one ever says this about the information profession. So we will do our part to provide you with stimulating conferences, relevant learning opportunities and a safe, supportive place for experimentation -- a type of risk-free laboratory for developing the right mix of skills you need to succeed. Where your career goes from there is up to you!
Thank you.
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