It’s hip2b2

This is Part II of my series on IT Project Management Idioms. Again, as a recap, I started creating these idioms during my years teaching at the Ateneo. This particular one is actually older than the first idiom. However, it is also the one that changes its formulation very often. Since, I have to blog about it I now have to come out with a fixed formulation. Here is attempt number 1.

Knowledge is not only about Knowing. It is about Knowing where to Look.

Often times, people measure the knowledge of a person by the things that he knows. This seems very logical because the word knowledge literally translates to “what one knows”. However, in this day of fast moving science and expanding knowledge, it is very difficult for one single person to know everything (accumulate all knowledge). Global knowledge today cannot possibly fit in a single person’s head. Hence, the second line of the idiom is important: “It is about Knowing where to Look”. This is the ultimate next case. If you don’t know it then look for it.

The first idiom talks about resources. The second idiom talks about information. Information is also a kind of resource. Hence, they are related. However, it is one that is more fluid. And like resources, there is information that you have and there is information you must find. So, what makes you great is the ability to know where to obtain this information quickly when you need it. The key here is accessibility and timeliness of information. So even if your mind cannot physically contain all the knowledge in the world, the ability to quickly organize and find information outside your mind allows you to surpass your current limitations. Knowing where to look expands the limits of your current universe of knowledge.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 6th, 2006 at 12:37 am and is filed under Musings and Speculations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.