How Do People Solve Problems by Knowledge, Wisdom, Intelligence, Information, and Data - Essay Example

How Do People Solve Problems by Knowledge, Wisdom, Intelligence, Information, and Data Introduction It takes tools for people to solve problems. Some of the most popular tools that are used by individuals for this purpose are knowledge, wisdom, intelligence, information, and date. The purpose of this essay is to discuss these tools and answer specific questions that were provided regarding them. Ashby's Law According to Wyrdology (2009, pg. 1), "The Law of Requisite Variety is sometimes known as Ashby's Law after William Ashby who proposed it. There are many different formulations, one of the simplest non-technical ones is: "the variety in the control system must be equal to or larger than the variety of the perturbations in order to achieve control" This simply means that a flexible system with many options is better able to cope with change. One that is tightly optimised for an initial set of conditions might be more efficient whilst those conditions prevail but fail totally should conditions change. And in today's business world, conditions change daily." The original meaning of Ashby's Law dealt with people attempting to keep a system stable. The controller of the system is better able to control it the more options he has. Variety of action controls variety of input (Wyrdology). Is It a Law or Merely a Conjecture A thorough Internet search revealed nothing of it being a conjecture. All sources pointed to people believing that it is a law. Relationship between Wisdom-Knowledge-Information-Data and Solving Problems According to Bellinger, Castro, and Mills (2009, pg. 1), "According to Russell Ackoff, a systems theorist and professor of organizational change, the content of the human mind can be classified into five categories: Data: symbols; Information: data that are processed to be useful; provides answers to "who", "what", "where", and "when" questions; Knowledge: application of data and information; answers "how" questions; Understanding: appreciation of "why"; Wisdom: evaluated understanding." Ackoff indicates that the first four categories relate to the past; they deal with what has been or what is known. Only the fifth category, wisdom, deals with the future because it incorporates vision and design. With wisdom, people can create the future rather than just grasp the present and past. But achieving wisdom isn't easy; people must move successively through the other categories." "There are many approaches to problem solving, depending on the nature of the problem and the people involved in the problem. The more traditional, rational approach is typically used and involves, eg, clarifying description of the problem, analyzing causes, identifying alternatives, assessing each alternative, choosing one, implementing it, and evaluating whether the problem was solved or not" (Free Management Library, 2009, pg. 1). The Work of Wiig and the KRI Kristen Wiig is an actress. She has appeared in the following: Despicable Me, Late Night, WhipIt!, Extract, All Good Things, Saturday Night Live, The Flight of the Conchords, Love is a Weapon of Choice, Adventureland, Ghost Town, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Semi-Pro, Pretty Bird, Walk Hard, 30 Rock, Bill, The Brothers Solomon, Knocked Up, Unaccompanied Minors, Home Purchasing Club, The Enigma with a Stigma, The Drew Carey Show, Untitled Aisha Tyler Project, I'm with Her, June, Life Death and Mini Golf, The Joe Schmo Show, and Melvin Goes to Dinner (IMDB, 2009). "The KRI Library addresses the need for a structured mechanism for key risk indicators and sets the stage for peer-group benchmarking. KRIs are widely viewed as having great potential-as a practical tool for tracking risk and losses, for measuring performance, for conducting process improvement exercises, for calculating capital (especially qualitative adjustments to capital estimates), and particularly for sounding an early warning of changes to an organization's risk profile" (RMAHQ, 2009, pg. 1). KRI services fall into a broad range of services, including the following services: Agency services, Management of assets and funds, Assurance and insurance, Commercial banking, Corporate banking, Payments, Settlements, Private banking, Corporate financing, Retail banking, Retail brokerage, and Sales and Training (IMDB, 2009, pg. 1). KRI Services is actually the name of a business, too, that offers these types of services. According to their website, "A subscription to KRI Services can include a two-day workshop held at your institution, where high-level risk maps will be developed for your institution. You will then be able to compare your risk map to that of the industry or your peer group. Learn to: Use a common risk management language to describe and analyze operational risks across and within business lines. Identify your greatest operational risks and benchmark them against those of the industry. Set internal goals to reach or surpass the emerging standards for defining and collecting KRIs. How Do Organizations that Have Worked in or Been Involved with Manage their Knowledge Nowadays, everything is technology-based. Most companies hire an outside firm to set up a software system to help management their knowledge and resources so that it is easy and effective. Those who do not may purchase the software on their own or attempt to keep the books and information by hand, which can be tedious and ineffective altogether. How Might They Do That More Effectively The number one step is for companies to do their homework. If they are going to use technology to manage their wisdom, knowledge, information, and data, they need to shop around for what they really need versus what the can afford. They also need to make training to all employees readily available so it can be used for efficiently in a shorter period of time. New technology does absolutely no good if no one can use it for what it is intended for. Is a University Education Relevant in a Knowledge Based Society Nowadays, it has become pretty much required that one obtain at least a bachelor's degree, so the answer is usually less. However, an individual with the proper training and experience could be hired for such a purpose. It does seem that in most cases, experience is favored over education. Why this is the case, it is not known. It may be because of the particular industry an organization is in. Bibliography Ashby's Law. (2009). Wyrdology. Retrieved May 5, 2009, from http://www.wyrdology.com/mind/creativity/variety.html Bellinger, G; D. Castro; A Mills. (2009). Data, information, knowledge, and wisdom. Systems Thinking. Retrieved May 5, 2009, from http://www.systems-thinking.org/dikw/dikw.htm How can improve operational risk management. (2009). KRI. Retrieved May 5, 2009, from http://74.125.47.132/searchq=cache:eE5TlH8_SfAJ:www.rmahq.org/NR/rdonlyres/70B0526D-4D49-4BCF-8B8D-A639FACF75A9/0/KRIServicesBrochure.pdf+The+Home+of+the+KRI+Subscriber+Community&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us KRI Services. (2009). KRI Services. Retrieved May 6, 2009, from http://www.rmahq.org/RMA/OperationalRisk/ProductsandServices/eProducts/KRIServices.htm Kristin Wigg. (2009). IMDB. Retrieved May 5, 2009, from http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1325419/ Read More