The common psychological problem in planning a knowledge management system, a transportation system, or a war, is that the planner starts with the ideal in mind. The ideal solution, the ideal constraints (or lack thereof), the ideal participants. Rather we should start with the abstract end in mind and an honest appraisal of the constraints and participants.

The best information sharing systems are most likely to fail because they’re built on idealized users. The average computer user, even in the IT sector, is not half as savvy or technologically inclined as the planner thinks. The enemy in the field rarely fights according to your plan.

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