Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?

Where is the knowledge we have lost in information? (TS Eliot – The Rock)

This wonderful quote from TS Eliot echoes the DIKW model of Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom.

An image speaks more than thousand words so here it is (thanks to Agile KM for sharing this) :



(pour les lecteurs français, je vous invite à lire l’éclairante description publiée dans la Master Thesis de Damien Boisbouvier, p.27 à 31).

Where does innovation stand you might ask. Peter Drucker answered this one :

“We know now that the source of wealth is something specifically human: knowledge. If we apply knowledge to tasks we already know how to do, we call it ‘productivity’. If we apply knowledge to tasks that are new and different we call it ‘innovation’.” Only knowledge allows us to achieve these two goals.”

So Innovation is the (upper) part of the Knowledge layer.

And where does Culture stand ? I’m currently reading Organizational Culture and Leadership by Edgar Schein, and I would tend to believe that culture is what turns organizational Knowledge into organizational Wisdom.

In any case, as we are overwhelmed with data and information, TS Eliot question remains as relevant as ever.

What do you think ?