Misinformation and Disinformation

Recently I was lucky to participate in an event hosted by NYU School of Professional Studies, moderated by Professor Paul Meadows MS in Project Management, PMP, CSM. Sri Atluri, Quality Engineering Foundation, was sharing his experience and expertise from his long distinguished career. Thanks Paul, Sri for an informative session. I am sharing some of the key points that were discussed during the session as well as in other off-stage conversations, as a post for wider reach.

• Distinction between misinformation and disinformation is not just semantic but important as an organization balances between innovation and risk. The difference is the intent, malice: misinformation can happen because of mistake but it requires an active intent to mislead for it to be disinformation.
• Organization's culture sets the tolerance: having no (or very low) tolerance for disinformation helps build the positive culture and reduce the risk while having a similar no/very low tolerance for misinformation can discourage innovation.
• Fear of producing a failure should not cripple the organization into failing to produce. Balance between the tolerance for mistakes and non-tolerance for intentional acts against the values of the organization is key.
• Individual behavior shapes culture and culture influences the individual behavior. If as an individual, one cannot see themselves in the mirror and feel good, then complaining about organization culture is a waste of time and energy.
• Some tips for an individual starting their career in Project Management:

1. Develop a healthy sense of skepticism. Sri refers to this as 'Be Curious'. Books like "The Skeptics Guide to the Universe" (Dr. Steven Novella) is a good source to start.

2. Understand the difference between facts, opinions and beliefs. One statement can have all three - having the ability to sift out facts from opinions and beliefs is a great strength to have not just in project management, but in life.

3. Do not confuse missing information with misinformation. Completeness of information as a pre-requisite for taking action is not only impractical, but can lead one to substitute opinions and beliefs in place of facts to get a false sense of completeness.

4. Once you are done with the task, milestone or project, take time to reflect how you acted and how else you could have acted. This helps you to firm-up your learning and improve. You should also reflect periodically how your personal values align with the organization culture. Too much divergence can cause dissonance and long-term frustration. Find the role in a team, department or organization that is in sync with your personal values. This will improve your mental health, help avoid burnouts.

Please feel free to add additional thoughts in comments!