4-1-1
It has been 11 days since MH370 disappeared. And no, this isn't a post about what I think happened to it because quite frankly, I could list down 2,317 theories and they would all still be equally possible or impossible.
Instead, I want to touch on how we treat information.
We Malaysians don't place enough value on information. A lot of us don't realize what a powerful tool it is or how it can be manipulated to suit whatever needs we may have. It also has the potential to be very damaging if handled improperly.
Whilst I fully understand the complexities behind the investigation of MH370's disappearance, the flow of information coming from official sources has been absolutely dreadful.
I'm not sure if having that many official spokespeople were that wise an idea to begin with. But with the eyes of the world firmly upon us, we decided to feed them a bunch of semi-truths one press conference at a time, making us look like incompetent fools.
This goes back again to my third paragraph. We're shit when it comes to dealing with info.
It's a disease that afflicts many aspects of our society.
For example, when our Government decided to roll out GST, 90% of the population didn't have a clue what it's all about. With less than a year to go before actual implementation, a vast majority of that 90% remain clueless.
While researching for Football Manager I found that in Malaysia you can always find out how many goals a player has scored but nobody keeps track of other equally as important info such as appearances, assists, passing accuracy, distance covered, etc. You just can't find anything beyond the blinkering obvious because sadly no one sees any value in it.
And in the organization I work for, the way we handle info is atrocious. Don't get me started on this. It would probably take an entirely new post.
That's the reality.
Albert Einstein once said information is not knowledge. But if you can't even get the information part right then you're really screwed.
Instead, I want to touch on how we treat information.
We Malaysians don't place enough value on information. A lot of us don't realize what a powerful tool it is or how it can be manipulated to suit whatever needs we may have. It also has the potential to be very damaging if handled improperly.
Whilst I fully understand the complexities behind the investigation of MH370's disappearance, the flow of information coming from official sources has been absolutely dreadful.
I'm not sure if having that many official spokespeople were that wise an idea to begin with. But with the eyes of the world firmly upon us, we decided to feed them a bunch of semi-truths one press conference at a time, making us look like incompetent fools.
This goes back again to my third paragraph. We're shit when it comes to dealing with info.
It's a disease that afflicts many aspects of our society.
For example, when our Government decided to roll out GST, 90% of the population didn't have a clue what it's all about. With less than a year to go before actual implementation, a vast majority of that 90% remain clueless.
While researching for Football Manager I found that in Malaysia you can always find out how many goals a player has scored but nobody keeps track of other equally as important info such as appearances, assists, passing accuracy, distance covered, etc. You just can't find anything beyond the blinkering obvious because sadly no one sees any value in it.
And in the organization I work for, the way we handle info is atrocious. Don't get me started on this. It would probably take an entirely new post.
That's the reality.
Albert Einstein once said information is not knowledge. But if you can't even get the information part right then you're really screwed.
Couldn't agree more. The administration needs a communication director, or at least a point person who is keeping the story straight with the media. Right now, the world is watching an administration shoot from its hip and contract itself over and over and over again.
ReplyDeleteI do wonder what on earth happened to the PR department of a supposedly "world-class" airline (although in fairness a whole bunch of other people were also culpable for massive blunders). It's taken them more than 10 days but things finally seem to be less chaotic.
ReplyDelete