MESSAGE FOR WEEK BEGINNING 20th August 2001

Knowledge Wave

I was in Auckland, New Zealand, for the 'Knowledge Wave' conference the other day. It was an impressive conference: well organised with speakers from around the world. I spoke at the dinner after Helen Clark (the prime minister) and Paul Keating (former prime minister of Australia).

I am still not sure what 'knowledge' actually means. There is raw data and then there is information when that data is put to use. It must be that knowledge is about knowing. But is knowing enought. We can know about things. We can know how to do things. Knowledge seems a bit concerned with 'what is' and not sufficiently 'what can be'. This requires creativity, design and constructive thinking. It is about creating value - not just acknowledging value.

I am sure the 'knowledge wave' was meant to cover this and was intended to mean 'brain stuff' which creates value. As so often, we really need a new word for this. In my book 'Surpetition' I suggest the new word 'valufacture' for the creation of value but this is not generic enough to cover all 'brain stuff'.

Edward de Bono nmt
19th August 2001
Buenos Aires