Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Fun summary of Russell Ackoff, the person who developed the Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom (DIKW) hierarchy. Some notable bits: "large social systems frequently aim for the wrong goals. For instance, the educational system prioritises teaching over learning, which obstructs the latter." And he "took pleasure in exposing the flaws of popular management trends like TQM, benchmarking, downsizing, process reengineering, and scenario planning. He criticised these trends for offering simplistic solutions to complex problems."

Today: 0 Total: 430 [Direct link] [Share]


Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

Copyright 2026
Last Updated: Oct 08, 2026 01:09 a.m.

Canadian Flag Creative Commons License.