How to see the strategic power of records.

This is a simple exercise.

Go and watch someone do their work.

Watch the record that they create so that they remember what to do next.

Watch the records that come to them with the work they need to do.

Watch the records they create to pass accountability on to someone else.

Then go and watch a small group of people work on something together.

Watch how many records they create just to coordinate the activities of a small group.

If you get a chance, find a group that creates lots of records, and then go and watch one that doesn't. You'll find that the one that doesn't create records gets things wrong more often, has to meet more frequently, and is just generally more dis-organised.

If you want to really see it in action, go and watch the activities of a large group (20 people is a large group for these purposes).

None of them are relying on their memory.

The only way they stay organised, is with records.

Without records, they become dis-organised.

Then stand back for a moment and look at the organisation you work in.

You might be lucky enough to see thousands of people acting around a unified purpose.

That's the strategic power of records.

It begs an important question for all of us.

If making organisations organised is the strategic power of records,

How much time do we spend on it?