Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, Second Edition

Many Good Ways

In their fascinating book Strategy Safari, Henry Mintzberg, Bruce Ahlstrand, and Joseph Lampel approach the subject of business strategy in a manner we as information architects would do well to emulate. The book begins with the fable of The Blind Men and the Elephant (Figure 18-5), which they note is often referred to but seldom known. We decided to follow their lead.

Figure 18-5. The Blind Men and the Elephant

The authors of Strategy Safari proclaim, “We are the blind people and strategy formation is our elephant. Since no one has had the vision to see the entire beast, everyone has grabbed hold of some part or other and `railed on in utter ignorance’ about the rest.” Swap “strategy formation” with “information architecture” and you’ve just described many of the heated debates at our conferences and on our discussion lists.

Strategy Safari extends the philosophy of “many good ways” by describing ten schools of thought within the business strategy field:

The school	Strategy formation as:
The Design School	a process of conception
The Planning School	a formal process
The Positioning School	an analytical process
The Entrepreneurial School	a visionary process
The Cognitive School	a mental process
The Learning School	an emergent process
The Power School	a process of negotiation
The Cultural School	a collective process
The Environmental School ...