A Lesson From Bali

Information is power. You, me, ASIO, the CIA spend a lot of time gathering, analysing and evaluating data in this so-called Age of Information.

It now appears that some key people in the US had strong suspicions that Bali would be a highly probable soft terrorist target. So why weren't the right people in Indonesia and Australia aware of these strong suspicions?

The amount of time we put into intelligent information dissemination and management is miniscule, which devalues the efforts of collection and analysis.

Our inquiries show that most people have an innate tendency toward not sharing. Those who do share are motivated interestingly by:

	Covering themselves from people who would be upset if they did not know;
	Convenience and ease of distribution;
	Information may be relevant to the recipient; and
	Building relationship - in that order.

This combined with technology give rise to spamming and information overload, and, in fact, being less informed primarily because we don't take care in what to send to whom. To be safe, send it to all to ensure no one reads it – as was suggested to me by a colleague.

We will all be better informed, forewarned and forearmed if you and I follow a few valuable rules of thumb when it come to information dissemination:

	Work out whose job output could be significantly impacted by the information.
	Which of your colleagues and clients are likely to be impacted by decisions taken based on the information you posses.
	Who has provided you with input and would benefit from feedback.
	Regularly check with people what if anything they find useful about the information you provide. (The feedback is usually surprising – What Information?)

These guides could have lessened the tragedy and if you employ it will enhance your communication reach.

What Next?

If you are interested in more information please give us a call on +61 2 8399 0011 and ask to speak to one of our consultants. 

Alternatively e-mail us at info@emdgroup.com.au or use the form on our Contact Us page.

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