The economist John Maynard Keynes is quoted as saying: “When the facts change, I change my mind”. Effective managers don't cling to a model when the model needs changing. Equally, an effective standards organization doesn't carve its models out of solid rock.
I began this series by talking about the difference between facts and data. I said that businesses need facts in order to manage well. Data are voluminous and variable; facts are relatively few and stable. However, when we take a longer view, we can see that the level of facts evolves too. Facts mutate and facts become redundant. New facts are born – leading to new data acquisition facilities. We therefore need a level of management – a meta-management level, if you will – that focuses on the development of the models which the business uses to control its behavior.
We implement this meta-management level by using the same management cycle on the management cycle. We figure out what our goals are for the models, define the relevant facts, execute, and measure. At ACORD, we do this on behalf of the insurance industry. So, as well as publishing the Information Model and the other models in the ACORD Framework, we have a process for managing the evolution of those models. The aim is to track industry evolution.
In the next and final part of this series, I'll have a few words to say about the relationship between member organizations and the Framework evolution process, and I'll wrap up the series with some queries for you to ponder.
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