Informationsverwaltung

Information + verwaltung = information management

Wikipedia – In (German) operational information management, the term Bringschuld (obligation to bring) was adopted from the law and means that a person is obliged within the scope of their information behavior to pass on the relevant information that has become known to them in a timely and comprehensive manner and in a suitable form horizontally (same level employees) and/or vertically (supervisors), so that they can make the right decisions.

These debts exist at all hierarchical levels. In this context, there is also talk of reporting levels, where a responsible person has a reporting obligation to a higher-level responsible person. Conversely, supervisors are also obliged to pass on information that has become known to them to employees, provided it is not secret.

Aphorisms

Wissen ist Macht, aber Macht ist auch ohne Wissen Macht. – Knowledge is power, but power is power even without knowledge.

Wissen ist Macht? Aber Macht isst Wissen. – Knowledge is power? But power eats knowledge. (Elmar Schenkel (*1953), Anglicist, author, translator, painter)

Für die Feinde ist das Wissen Macht, für uns ist die Macht Wissen! Ohne Macht kein Wissen! – For enemies knowledge is power, for us knowledge is power! Without power there is no knowledge! (Wilhelm Liebknecht (1826 – 1900), German journalist and politician)

Wissen ist Macht. Wissen von der Macht, noch ein wenig mehr Macht. – Knowledge is power. Knowledge of the Force, a little more power. (Martin Gerhard Reisenberg, *1949), qualified librarian and author)

Wissen ist die Macht zu wissen, was man besser nicht macht. – Knowledge is the power to know what is better not to do. (Gerhard Uhlenbruck, *1929), German immunobiologist and aphorist)

Wenn Wissen Macht ist, dann macht Nichtwissen ohnmächtig. – If knowledge is power, then ignorance makes you powerless. (Robert Kroiß, *1949, German writer)

Francis Bacon on knowledge

Wikipedia – “Wissen ist Macht”, knowledge is power, is a dictum in German that goes back to the English philosopher Francis Bacon (1561-1626). In his works, Bacon laid a cornerstone of philosophy in the Age of Enlightenment and introduced Aristotelian-Christian scholasticism to the knowledge and methods of natural science.

His efforts to bring people “to a higher level of existence” were expressed in his Meditationes sacrae in 1597 in the formulation Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (because science itself is power), often shortened to scientia potestas est. In the English language version of 1598 the sentence read: “(For) knowledge (itself) is power.”

What Germans think they are good at

YouTube comments:

“After having lived for 4 years in the US I learned to appreciate some German traits. What comes to mind is efficiency, being detail oriented, having a long attention span, being direct and mostly honest, and – very surprising for me – compared to the US the relation to your superior is much more on an equal footing (okay not everywhere), despite calling your boss by their firstname in the US, work life balance, time for your family Politically, trying to find a balance between economic growth, workers rights, social security and sustainability (trying is the word here). On a material level, certainly bread (in all variations), beer, engineering of course, Sahnetorte (cream cake), Wurst (sausages as well as cold cuts); plumbing, online-banking, … Examples of what we still have to learn: seeing the good things (we are perfect in looking for “das Haar in der Suppe”, finding fault in everything); sometimes letting go of safety in favor of taking risks.”

“My sister lives in Munich and, although I’ve never lived there, I’ve visited Germany multiple times. Germans do many things very well. The towns are clean, safe, and well run. People are polite and civilized. Food is delicious and the beer is out-of-this-world. The women are so good-looking! My sister enjoys a high quality of life over there – she says that social services are comprehensive and stress-free to deal with. And all this without mentioning German achievements in science, medicine, engineering, commerce, and the arts. It’s a fine country. p.s. John Kampfner’s book on Germany is excellent.”

“As an Italian, I can say that Germans are the best when it comes to public facilities, infrastructure, punctuality and public order.. they also make the best beer you can find.. They need to improve fashion and social attitude perhaps (Not all of them are “cold” though) I would love to live in München one day!”

Why Schäuble sees too many Germans going it alone

Wolfgang Schäuble has been a member of the Bundestag for exactly 50 years, making him the sole record holder. For the anniversary, the CDU politician will basically be with Markus Lanz. He criticizes Germany’s “know-it-all” on many issues, which means that Germany is met with a lack of understanding from many international partners and allies.

As an example, Schäuble cites the discussion about the “One Love” armband at the World Cup in Qatar. This moral exaggeration does not fit the federal government’s gas deal with Qatar. Germany needs this relationship right now. And don’t stick to what other countries would like to dictate.

But even in the debate about the raid in the “Reichsbürger” milieu, an internal contradiction becomes clear. Such a successful search is only possible thanks to a certain level of surveillance of suspects, for example by wiretapping communications. Here Germany must find the right balance between freedom and security. And between security and morality.

It is similar for Schäuble in energy policy. Germany has been going its own difficult path here since Nord Stream 1. But with Nord Stream 2 at the latest, they have moved far too far away from the other Europeans and the Americans.

German know-it-all attitude after the floods helps no one

July 2021. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. But accusing politicians and disaster management officials of “system failure” underestimates the forces of nature, DW’s Fabian Schmidt writes.

It’s all too human to look for someone to blame after a huge natural disaster, but that doesn’t help anyone — certainly not the victims, the survivors or the people whose livelihoods were washed away by the masses of water within minutes.

This know-it-all attitude gets on my nerves: Just like Germany has 80 million football coaches after the national team loses a game, now everyone seems to be a disaster relief expert. And not just in Germany.

Moralizers and know-it-alls – German arrogance

If Europe were a school class, the roles would be assigned quickly. There would be the notoriously offended, the rioters, the bullies, the followers and model students. And there would be the know-it-all: This is Germany. Not only does he know everything very well, he also likes to teach his classmates. And he thinks he’s highly moral: sometimes he thinks he’s something better.

After the presidential election in France: German know-it-alls don’t help

German nagging at the European policy proposals of the victorious French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron is counterproductive.

Had Marine Le Pen been elected President of France, it would probably have spelled the end of the EU. This warning could be heard all over Europe until last Sunday evening – not least in Germany. Now the social liberal Emmanuel Macron is the new head of state in the neighboring country, and what is happening in Germany?

After the first sigh of relief, a reflexive debate is held as to whether or not the frowned upon euro bonds will come with the change of power in Paris. On the one hand this is a phantom discussion, on the other hand it is a symptom of Franco-German alienation.

Know-It-All: dealing with Dr. Clever

Every company has them, nobody particularly likes working with them and they can drive every colleague to the brink of despair: know-it-alls. They have to give their two cents on every topic, have a different opinion on everything and no matter who makes a suggestion, the know-it-all will certainly have a better idea ready in his eyes.

You can certainly imagine how quickly this behavior overstrains the nerves of colleagues. But what can you do to defend yourself against the constant know-it-all attitude? Which colleagues tend to be particularly know-it-alls and how you can deal with a Dr. Bypass smartness in your department?