BOOK
There are probably more new business books on "information" than serious novels and poetry collections combined. The shelves seem to show that we are less concerned with experiencing life than simply outlining it in neat how-to manuals. And now that business is founded on information flow, giddy CEOs believe, we need only tie our data together to let American business truly surge forward.
Keith Devlin's InfoSense suggests things are a bit more complex. Devlin, an accomplished numberist who has written several books about mathematics for a general audience (including Life by the Numbers, upon which a PBS special was based) has been holed up in a Stanford think tank studying what he calls the "physics of information," the notion that information can be treated scientifically - an idea sure to tickle frustrated business managers everywhere.
But once Devlin gives us a clear picture of his subject, complications in the friction-free economy quickly become apparent. He posits that all information transfer is limited by the context in which it occurs. The key, says Devlin, is not information, but knowledge, which he defines as information put into practice.
Philosophers will cringe at such a crude claim, but Devlin's audience is CEOs, and he's probably right to assume that they want to understand how to build institutional knowledge. His examples, gleaned from years of consulting with US firms, reveal a pragmatic understanding of interpersonal communication and of the ways mismanagement of information can lead to companywide ignorance. But on a more expansive level - which is where Devlin seems to want to reside as a writer - there are several large gaps.
For example, in one anecdote the author praises a crafty real estate agent who persuades a farmer to sell his land. The agent does so by understanding the farmer's particular context (hard financial times, relatives living several towns away) and using this information in his argument. For Devlin this is an excellent example of acquiring the right kind of information and putting it to good use. But it is also an example of how information can be used to trick and manipulate people for selfish ends. At the same time that Devlin and the corporate managers he consults for try to increase communication and build teamwork, the means may simply be producing more skeptics wary of their tactics.
InfoSense: Turning Information into Knowledge by Keith Devlin: $24.95. W. H. Freeman and Company: +1 (212) 576 9400, www.whfreeman.com.
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