The Ten Commandments of Information Management

The Ten Commandments

Throughout history, humans have always had a need to share their knowledge and experiences with others. We see evidence of this in the earliest figurative cave paintings created by our ancestors more than 45,000 years ago.

One could argue that our need to share knowledge has had a decisive influence on our development, and the invention of writing has been the greatest accelerator of development in human history.

With writing came the need to record, organize, and share our knowledge. This makes knowledge reusable, increases accessibility, and raises the level of information within the group.

A good example is Moses, who made his knowledge reusable by inscribing his messages on two stone tablets, organizing the text into the ten Commandments, and sharing the Commandments among his followers. It has undoubtedly been highly effective as we still live by those Commandments today.

Why fix it if it ain’t broken

One could say that we are fundamentally doing the same thing as Moses to this day. We have simply replaced the stone tablets with paper and binders. And in the digital age, paper and binders have been replaced by files and folders. But fundamentally, we are doing the same as Moses.

One might ask why we should change an approach that has brought us so much success. We should do so because our environment and circumstances have changed.

If information was the key, we would all be billionaires with perfect abs.

– Derek Sievers

Knowledge and information are not goals nor solutions in themselves. The solution lies in our behavior; in the way we acquire, process, and apply our knowledge.

Today, we have the opposite problem of our ancestors. The difference lies in the amount of information we have to process and the way we consume information.

We are drowning in knowledge and bombarded with information from all sides. This places new demands on our ability to sort knowledge, ensuring that it is correct, updated, and relevant.

Metadata tagging: The path to dynamic search

We still do the same as Moses, but we can no longer settle for organizing information on stone tablets, in binders, or folders. Our needs are far too complex for that.

We need to access information in so many different contexts that it is necessary to filter and display information from various perspectives. In modern document management systems, this is done by enriching documents, emails, cases, projects, and customers with metadata.

Knowledge is more complex, and the group of stakeholders is larger. We can no longer be content with sharing knowledge only on request or accessing knowledge through cryptic folder structures or random file names.

Knowledge must be available at all times, in the correct context, and targeted to the right users. Knowledge should find its way to users in the context they are in, and not the other way around.

Automated processes provide a solid foundation

We cannot leave it to chance whether our knowledge is used correctly and in the right contexts. Therefore, it is important to incorporate our knowledge as a natural part of our work processes. This can be done through automatic approval workflows, control processes, or task management. It can also be done by providing instructions in the appropriate work contexts, rather than burying them in passive reference materials.

Data collection and measuring effectiveness

Data collection from system inputs, emails, documents, actions, and reports is recorded and categorized, enriching the company with information that enables informed decision-making and activity planning. Measuring effectiveness allows the company to assess the impact of initiatives and activities. These are all necessary to ensure that the ship is sailing in the right direction. In a modern document management system, data collection occurs automatically or semi-automatically through features such as automatic email journalizing, document version control, action logging, and incident reporting forms. Effectiveness is measured through business intelligence reports, portfolio management overviews, and parameter-driven notifications.

It’s really difficult to run a business with stone tablets. Are you also carrying around heavy “stone tablets”?

Then contact us for a non-binding conversation about the possibilities of streamlining processes and accessing critical information. At digitalworkspace365, we deliver simple solutions to complex problems. You can also learn more about our standard document management solutions here: