Shifting from tautological to consequential
In regards to these writings, and the rest of my life, I am not concerned with being right, or wrong. My main concern is learning - continuously observing, listening, questioning and testing, while not taking "knowledge" too seriously. For me, learning is not the act of accumulating precise categories of knowledge, memorizing facts and fixating on models or the pursuit of expertise. The learning here is not a game; there are no rules, only dots.
New information and perspective opens up the possibility for the unconnected to connect and, equally, the connected to disconnect. For me, a life experience is about learning; not only examining the already connected (sometimes called "history" or "best-practice") but also seeking out the yet-to-be connected or the unconnected. Every act of free will, pattern disrupted and agglomeration of uncertainty is an opportunity for learning. Previously known, but unconnected dots connect, sometimes with dots that are both unknown and unconnected, and the formerly established connections unravel. In addition, a connection for one could be a detachment for another, but a learning experience for both.
The most interesting, and challenging, aspect of applying a dot connecting perspective to business problems is that each connection is inherently distinctive. There is no way of modeling or fixing the process. The connections made today are unique to the time and space in which they happened. Reproducing the connections is moot, since the time and space has changed. We have already run into trouble, before we have a chance to consider the multiple interpretations every dot connection generates.
This may not be conventional, but I do believe it is practical*. If commercial organizations could connect dots a little better, they may not find the world so "unprecedented" and "unpredictable" and could move resources from the tautological to the consequential.
*I use the word "practical" carefully, by meaning an applicable reflection of reality. It is not the everyday business "practical", which generally means "simple, quick and easy".
Originally published February 12, 2008