Lean information
There is a view that information is power. This is untrue. Information is neutral. What gives information power is its fitness for purpose.
We call this Lean Information. And it’s at the heart of everything we do.
Lean Information is underpinned by a clear and simple set of guiding principles. By applying them to even the most convoluted and complex information management problems, we create simple, elegant and highly effective solutions that unlock the latent power of our clients’ information and drive their business success.
Fit for purpose
Lean Information tells exactly the story it needs to tell, without complication, confusion or distraction. It communicates complex ideas with clarity, precision and efficiency.
Henry Beck’s iconic Tube map is a prime example of ‘fitness for purpose’. Designed nearly 80 years ago and essentially unchanged since then, it reduces a sprawling and complex set of locations, routes and connections into a simple and logical graphic. Clear, elegant and concise, it provides accurate, immediate answers to hundreds of thousands of location, progress-marking and route-planning questions every day.
Timely
The right information is essential for any business decision. Depending on the business, and the nature of the decision, that information may be required in a week, an hour or a second. Lean Information is available to the people who need it precisely when they need it – neither too late to be usable nor too early to be front of mind.
To hand
Lean Information is stored in the most accessible place for the person who uses it. Whether that’s on a computer, the web, the cloud, a mobile phone or tablet.
Goal-oriented
All business information takes time to collect, collate, filter and format.
The burden of creating high quality, timely and accessible information can spiral out of control. Organisations become bureaucratic, information gathering becomes an end instead of a means, employee roles become misaligned with business aims and staff lose sight of their purpose in relation to the goals of the business.
Lean Information offers its user maximum business value, with minimum time and effort required to collect and present it. It enables the business to remain strategic and proactive. Employees are able to focus on the benefit of the information, rather than the information itself, and on the business goals rather than the challenges of information management.