People have an inherent need to share and organize information about the world around them. Information sharing creates, stabilizes and sometimes, if taken too far, destroys relationships (person to person, person to organization, organization to groups). As humans participating in organizations and communities we seek an optimal level of information to understand our environment and function well in organizations.
Simply stated, optimized information sharing is realized when we balance redundant and novel messages. Redundancy is repeating what is known, and is used to counteract the effects of noise in the communication channel. Redundancy establishes a known foundation for those receiving information and messages (from facts to the oft-repeated symbolic stories, redundancy provides a foundation for current and future communication episodes). However, if there are no new, unique or fresh messages, entropy sets in. That is why we need novel messages - ones that are fresh, distinctive, new or unique.
We need to introduce new things into our systems to keep the system alive. Yet, if there are too many new messages there will be information overload. This is true when it comes to communicating with desired communities and constituencies. What are the accepted beliefs and norms that may be considered "redundant" and what are the novel messages and ideas that will further engage that same group? What foundations are in place to develop a new campaign? What novel messages will make your campaign symbolically unique?
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