There’s an unspoken trap in the world of Information Management – one that can quietly undermine your influence, limit your effectiveness, and ultimately disconnect you from the people you’re supposed to support. It has nothing to do with technology, outdated tools, or bad data. It’s something far more subtle, yet just as dangerous.
It’s the belief that you need to be the smartest person in the room.
The moment you fall into this trap, everything changes. You start seeing yourself as the expert, the one who understands the data and ultimately the world better than anyone else, the person who can see the inefficiencies that others overlook. You build advanced applications and dashboards, automate reports, and develop data-driven tools that, on paper, are flawless. But there’s a problem – they do not solve the issues and/or problems.
I learned it the hard way
I learned this lesson the hard way early in my IM career. I once built a dashboard that I was incredibly proud of – dynamic, automated, visually stunning. It had everything: real-time updates, interactive filters, and advanced analytics. I walked into the meeting excited to present what I prepared, convinced it would impress my colleagues and change the way decisions were made. But as I spoke, I noticed something unsettling. My colleagues nodded politely, but no one asked questions. No one engaged. The meeting ended, and I noticed that everyone was puzzled. I had built what I thought was a perfect tool – but I had failed to build something they actually needed. I realized that no one was using this dashboard.
I changed my approach, listened to colleagues, and talked to them to get what they wanted, and they proposed a simple yet working (and easy to understand) solution. Now, after three years, I am looking at what I initially created, something I was extremely proud of back then. And I cannot understand what was on my mind when I proposed it.
I’ve seen it happen countless times. An Information Management professional walks into a meeting, excited to present their latest work. The dashboard is dynamic, the graphs are polished, and the calculations are airtight. It’s a technical masterpiece, but the room is silent. Not because people are in awe, but because they don’t see how it helps them. They nod, offer a few words of appreciation, and then continue making decisions based on instinct, experience, and whatever fragmented information they already have. The IM professional leaves frustrated, wondering why their work isn’t being valued. But the problem isn’t the data and visuals. The problem is the approach.
Information Management is a Service, Not a Stage
The role of Information Management isn’t about showing how much you know. It’s about making sure others have the information they need to do their jobs better. Great IM professionals don’t build solutions for themselves; they build them for their colleagues in various units. It doesn’t matter how sophisticated your system is – if it doesn’t help others make better decisions, it’s useless. The moment you act like the smartest person in the room, people stop talking to you. And when they stop talking to you, you lose the most valuable thing you need: insight into their real challenges.
Many IMOs make the mistake of assuming that their colleagues will automatically come to them with problems. That’s rarely the case. People won’t open up to you if they feel like they’re being lectured, judged, or dismissed. If they think you’re more interested in proving your expertise than understanding their needs, they’ll simply stop engaging. And once that happens, you’re no longer an asset – you’re just another technical expert working in isolation.
The best Information Management professionals understand that their job isn’t to impress but to serve. They listen before they speak. They take the time to understand what challenges their colleagues face before offering solutions.
They don’t just deliver data – they translate it into something meaningful. They recognize that Senior Management doesn’t need a deep-dive analysis – they need clarity, simplicity, and reliable information they can act on. A Protection Officer doesn’t care how advanced a dashboard is; they care whether it helps them identify vulnerable cases faster. A Supply Officer isn’t interested in database queries; they just need to know if aid will arrive on time. A Shelter Officer doesn’t need an overly complex GIS system; they need to quickly see where displaced families can be housed safely and efficiently.
So the next time you walk into a meeting, stop and ask yourself: Are you here to show what you know, or are you here to make someone else’s job easier? Are you solving a real problem, or just showcasing your technical skills?
The Smartest ≠ The Most Valuable
Information Management is not about being the smartest person in the room. It’s about being the most useful. And the only way to be useful is to make sure people trust you enough to tell you what they really need. If no one is talking to you, if no one is asking for your input, if no one is engaging with your solutions – then it’s not because they don’t understand data. It’s because they don’t see how you help them.
The most valuable people in the room are not the ones who have all the answers. They’re the ones who ask the right questions, who build trust, and who make themselves indispensable by focusing on what really matters.
So don’t aim to be the smartest. Aim to be the most valuable.