The_Documentation

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses
Throughout the years organizations have continued to debate
whether or not to develop documentation. Any number of excuses
are continuously recycled as rationale for not creating
documentation. Too time consuming, too expensive, no one will
read it anyway.

Hail the Hero
IT organizations tend to lead the pack in making up reasons to not
document their work. These groups continue to hold on to the
outmoded "hero model" of organizational capability which allows
the intellectual resources of the organization to rest in the hands of
a relative few subject matter experts. This misguided perspective
always injures the capability and performance of the organization.

There is No Choice
The truth is that no debate around choosing to develop
documentation or not can be allowed to take place at all. There is
no option. Every organization must make the effort to document
what it does, including everything it does, as well as the supporting
knowledge that enables the work to be done. To omit this effort is a
blatant act of negligence and mismanagement. The lack of
sufficient and adequate documentation leaves the organization
without the intellectual capital to compete in today's flat,
interconnected, global marketplace.

Critical Success Factor
Documentation is not "nice to have." It is essential to the
competency of the organization. When good documentation is in
place, everyone benefits. Managers know what they are supposed
to be managing, employees know what they are supposed to be
doing and how to do it, and executives have a basis to make solid,
real-world decisions that lead to organizational success.

When good documentation is lacking, everyone in the organization
works under a knowledge handicap that holds the organization back
from realizing its full potential. While it may not seem obvious,
good documentation is a critical factor in the organization's success.
The reason this is not obvious is that too few organizations have
good, usable documentation available to those who need it (just
about everyone).

Universally Acknowledged Need
Every organization that has developed standards and best practices
acknowledges the necessity of adequate documentation. Today's
best practice leader in the IT world, the Information Technology
Infrastructure Library (ITIL) calls on organizations to embrace the
Data, Information, Knowledge, Wisdom (DIKW) model. Using the
DIKW model, quantitative data from metrics are transformed into
qualitative information. By combining information with captured
experience, context, interpretation, and reflection, the organization
develops readily available knowledge. Knowledge can then be used
to make the right decisions (wisdom).

Every other developer of standards or best practices, including
such well known organizations like SEI and ISO and many others,
has taken a similar position. The only way that an organization can
improve and grow is by using consistent, documented processes
and procedures.

Cornerstone of Organizational Knowledge
Documentation, then, is the cornerstone for all knowledge capture
and management efforts. Managed correctly so that members of
the organization can easily make use of it, this knowledge base can
grow to become the continuously improving intellectual capability
of the organization, a source everyone can draw from to elevate
levels of performance and provide the basis for innovation and
success.

Comments?

The Documentation Imperative
By David A. Baldwin

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Delivering Knowledge for Top Performance