At YALLO, we help Retail IT leaders get top Tech talent within a week | Founder & CEO, Chief Technology Strategist at YALLO Retail | Gartner Ambassador | Ex-Microsoft, Deloitte, Oracle
What is the difference between #Data, #Information, and #Knowledge? And how do these relate to insight, wisdom, and impact? This is the DIKIWI model. You may be familiar with the DIK pyramid or the DIKW hierarchy. The letters in these acronyms stand for Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom. While useful, these models are incomplete. Two important omissions are Insight and Impact. To understand the differences and relationships between these six levels of understanding, I find the visualization created by Gapingvoid Culture Design Group very informative. Using colors and lines, they effectively illustrate the meaning of all six. These are my brief definitions: DATA - Unorganized observations Raw data, observations that are unorganized and not yet understood. Not possible to act on since you have no idea what the data mean. You only know “something” is going on. INFORMATION - Data given meaning Data in context, making it possible to assign meaning to the data. You can distinguish one data point from another and know what the differences mean so that you can answer basic who, what, where, and how questions KNOWLEDGE - Connected information Understanding how different information points connect to one another. You can see the bigger picture, can recognize patterns and understand them. Enables answering how and why questions. INSIGHT - Focused knowledge Filtered or selected knowledge based on what is needed at the moment. Beyond knowing things, you are able to draw conclusions and focus on the essentials of a specific situation. WISDOM - Connected Insight Knowing what the right decision or action is in a given situation and in the light of the bigger picture. You see how things relate and what the consequences are of actions and decisions. IMPACT - Applied Wisdom Wisdom turned into action. Beyond knowing and understanding what is needed, impact includes the will and ability to act and to embrace the consequences of one’s decisions and actions. Remember this model—the acronym is simple enough: DIKIWI. Especially the higher levels are important because too often we act directly in response to information (or worse… in response to data…). But it takes insight and wisdom to truly make an impact! #GoYallo
