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DIKUW Content Model | Big Wisdom

Pivoting away from big data and into big wisdom.

I literally only watched 90 seconds of the above video and had to grab a pen and piece of paper (always good to kick it old school) to jot down the opening point: Data > Information > Knowledge > Understanding > Wisdom.

Often cited as the DIKW Pyramid (although this model lacks the ‘understanding’ level), the pause was needed to reflect, as something ‘connected’ in my brain / soul and the ideas needed time to percolate:

DIKUW Content Model

There’s a difference between doing things right and doing the right thing.
Peter Drucker

So many organisations / companies / social issues are about maintaining and sharpening the core operations (efficiencies) without re-examining the fundamentals of their origins (effectiveness).

Over the past few weeks I’ve shared the following with so many peers and friends as a way to get my head around it. When sharing, the example that’s become handy to ascribe it to is the oil industry:

The big oil companies have a wonderful understanding of how to protect and create the market for their product and to drive the consistent need. They have deep knowledge of how to both get the oil from where it is and then to refine and package it. They have precise information on where it is and how much it will make them based on the patterns. They have masses of data on all aspects of the process so they can refine and become more and more efficient.

What they don’t have is the wisdom to drive them into the future of becoming effective on a higher plane. They are doing the wrong thing righter.

Wisdom would allow them to pivot their whole business model. Taking their profits and for the next 5-10 years investing everything they have into more sustainable energies / renewables. This alone would revolutionise the whole sector via investment, ensure they continue to profit in the energy space whilst also pivoting the whole industry into serving the world and its global health.

Thoughts?

Thank you Russell Ackoff.

Big thanks to Jennifer Sertl for the tweet / link and appreciation for inspiration behind flow diagram image for Broomy83
Related post / presentation video: WYSDEM | Big Wisdom Thinking For Businesses & Organisations, Humanising Wisdom | An Exploratory Presentation
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