I went to seminary during my 30's, not to become a pastor but to become a better man. Epistemology was one of my favorite topics of study, along with things like Einstein's theology, and cross-cultural communication. It may sound like a waste, but I had a great time, met some great people, and figured out who it was I wanted to become during the arc of my life.
Epistemology is the study of what is and is not knowable. It may sound foolish, but in the tension between the two lies the human experience IMHO. Epistemology may seem like a pointless exercise, but the information technology industry is currently wrestling with differentiating between that which is knowable (information) and that which is not knowable (undifferentiated data). No, I don't apply theology directly to data structures, nor do I worship computers! :-) On the contrary, the basic questions and thought patterns I sought to understand definitely inform my work with policies, taxonomies and governance. You can waste a lot of time and money trying to manage that which is ultimately unknowable and unprofitable. It is far better to focus your efforts on that which can be measured and control. Strategy involves letting go of the unprofitable in order to better make use of the profitable--it is a very tough discipline indeed.
The bottom line is that most people and organizations spend most of their time grinding away in futility trying to understand that which isn't understandable, while ignoring the more profitable study and use of that which is inherently knowable. Long story short-- useless data is what costs your organization money. Knowledge (structured and contextualized data) is what protects you from the costs of useless data.
Governance is, in large part, the discipline of letting go of the unusable in order to better manage the useful. The major tool in a governance team's arsenal is a tight and focused taxonomy of policies. the taxonomy describes what knowledge will be focused upon, while the governance team decides how to best exploit that knowledge.
©Copyright Mark Ragar Schneider, 2009 All Rights Reserved
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