“Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” Albert Einstein
Sometimes information only exists in a person’s head, so an interview is a way to extract it so that others may learn from the interviewee. An interview is a data gathering technique, and interviews are great teaching tools, especially when the interviewee is knowledgeable and wise. But it’s important to understand the knowledge hierarchy: data—information—knowledge—wisdom. When you move from data to wisdom, you further your level of understanding. And that’s what you’d like to happen for you when you read or listen to an interview.
It is said that the knowledge hierarchy can be traced back to the T.S. Eliot’s (1888-1965) poem The Rock (1934).
“…The endless cycle of idea and action,
Endless invention, endless experiment,
Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness;
Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;
Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.
All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance,
All our ignorance brings us nearer to death,
But nearness to death no nearer to GOD.
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
The cycles of Heaven in twenty centuries
Bring us farther from GOD and nearer to the Dust.”
To explain the differences among each element of the knowledge hierarchy, I found a website which does so simply and clearly.
“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.” Source: Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom by Gene Bellinger, Durval Castro, Anthony Mills.
This means that data is the most basic level of the knowledge hierarchy. Information adds context, knowledge is more about how to use the information that you now have, and wisdom is more about when to use the information.
Interviews often fall into the information and knowledge levels of the knowledge hierarchy. To get to the levels of understanding and wisdom requires work on the part of the reader and listener. You have to synthesize the incoming information. This is critical if you are using the interview as a learning tool.
How to Synthesize Interviews
To synthesize the information gleaned from interviews does not have to be a difficult process if you follow the simple process below.
I Saw/Heard This + I Know This = Insights.
Whenever each of us takes in new information, it’s important to scan out mental data bank to identify what we already know about the subject matter and build on that knowledge.
Implication for the Invisible Mentor Interviews
As you may know already, the Invisible Mentor interviews are in-depth, and are spread over two days. To use them as learning tools, and get the most from them: Ask yourself,
- What is the interviewee really saying?
- What do I know that supports what the interviewee is saying?
- What is surprising about what the interviewee is saying?
- How can I use this information?
- How can what I’m learning make a difference in my work and life?
- Why is the information important (or not important)?
- If what the interviewee is saying is true and beneficial to me, then what?
- What action can I take as a result of what I saw or heard? And why is it important for me to take action?
- Now that I have listened to the interview, have I changed in any way? If yes, how? Is that good or bad? Why?
Answering the above questions moves you up to a higher level in the knowledge hierarchy. You further your level of understanding about something, and gain insight in the process. The questions in The Invisible Mentor Interviews force interviewees to be thoughtful with their responses, which is hugely beneficial to the reader and listener. To take it one step further requires that you interact with what you are reading and hearing.
So when using interviews as a way to learn, use the process described above to make the most of your limited time. You will become more knowledgeable than those who do not understand the knowledge hierarchy. KNOWLEDGE IS NOT POWER, it’s what you do with it that really matters.
How can you use this information? What do you have to add to the conversation? Let's keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Some Interviews Worth Paying Attention To
Seth Godin: The New Face of Publishing
Estée Lauder's William Lauder: ‘The Consumer Still Wants and Needs to Be Touched'
Why Self-Employed Consultants Fail
