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Applications
Tasks
Erratic results and cascading errors can be often attributed to management practices based on flawed or lost information.
Using the Stop&Think tool, existing task information can be deconstructed into an infosphere for evaluation and preservation.
For a new project, Stop&Think assembles the necessary expertise into an infosphere and then generates a number of alternative
actions based upon different combinations of the infosphere elements.
IT assets
Stop&Think can quickly and accurately determine the
ROI on proposed IT systems and other information assets . Information assets may include external sources of information, knowledge bases, or staff employees.
Quality and Productivity Programs
The predicted return on quality and productivity programs can be estimated beforehand using Stop&Think without large amounts of statistical data.
On-going programs can also be quickly assessed.
Non-Commercial Organizations
Because the Stop&Think method is based on the development and measurement of expertise, it is possible to perform non-monetary applications using only a basic
set of financial parameters. This capacity can be used to create tacit equity in not-for-profits and government agencies.
For more information see the
Estimating ROI Using A Measurement of Expertise
white paper.
Engagement
Stop&Think offers practical services that can be completed
on time. The task manager educates the team in using the Stop&Think tool, which can be characterized as a
directed semantic wiki. The tool can be used independently or placed in any type of shared space.
Stop&Think's use of familiar task vocabulary for fusion encourages rapid acceptance of the method.
Individuals can think in terms that are highly meaningful.
Groups can effectively communicate concepts.
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Tool
The tool is currently in the form of a Microsoft Excel workbook. In addition to the Tasking, Fusion, and Valuation worksheets
there are several appendices.
Embedded in each Method page are discussion threads devoted to the particular form input block.
Team
The client team should be composed of individuals having diverse skills but similar rank, experienced in the problem (task) area.
The ability to reason independently and predict well will maximize the total amount of knowledge elicited from the team as well as improve the joint solutions.
The team elects a task manager who is knowledgeable in the Stop&Think method, either as a licensee or a co-leader with a Stop&Think consultant.
Timeline
Completion depends on the availability of information. The method normally only uses readily available information; however, it is occasionally necessary to
research new sources (using Valuation to estimate the research budget). If all the information is available the engagement can be completed very quickly;
for example, Task Review deconstructs a workflow problem onto a single piece of paper.
Implementation
The simplification process naturally streamlines communication by eliminating irrelevant conversation, each infosphere element representing a field of inquiry that can be
actualized as a meeting topic, e-mail thread, and aggregation folder. Clear channels enable new developments to be distinguished from noise.
An infosphere can be introduced into almost any existing office tool or server. Pushing shared knowledge to the border of the organization accelerates response and enables
remote performance monitoring.
 Reconfigured productivity and communication tools
Is your organization E-mail F.I.T.™?
Fuse always
Information in one place
Take existing technology
1. Infosphere elements can be used as topics for e-mail threads, eliminating unnecessary correspondence. This approach can be implemented
independently using freeware like Google Groups. In addition, traffic sent to wireless handhelds, Blackberrys, or similar products can be reduced by using e-mail client software to only redirect task topical e-mails.
2. Task-specific information aggregation for each team member. For example, Microsoft OneNote (and to a lesser extent Microsoft Outlook) can be organized into a series of task topical folders that
contain a broad range of information types - e-mails, documents, spreadsheets, reminders, images, etc... Note flags can be distributed across folders as a way of continuing
fusion. Aggregation can also be implemented using project software.
3. Group meeting agendas, including virtual conferencing software.
4. The pre-conceived infosphere can enrich communication through media choice; for example, images ("a picture is worth a thousand words")
sent from a digital camera or cellular phone, or diagrams created with SmartDraw or Microsoft Visio.
Collaborative software
Does your organization have Mobile Intelligence™?
1. Direct access to external information positions front-line members to make the best decision for the organization.
Warfighter's infosphere.
In order to operate most effectively, useful information needs to be captured and fused for group distribution, while information posted to the member must be
synchronized with the task (Microsoft Groove shareware).
2. Universal access to an infosphere will reduce redundant activity and disseminate cached knowledge. Graphs and
tables can be used to track metrics associated with an element, potentially through automation (Microsoft Excel macros). Participation in performance monitoring guides
mobile members towards decisions that satisfy organizational objectives.
Knowledge sharing structures
Data Model - Keywords can be used as entity classes in a conceptual schema.
Metadata - A rich content summary using keywords enables fast and accurate search.
Web Technologies - Infosphere elements can be mapped into classes that compose schema as well as ontologies (task-specific restricted vocabularies).
Documents can be marked up with XML tags; using RDF, OWL, and other languages the tags can be structured to promote reasoning about documents' data (Semantic Web).
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