Levels of Information - Reactive and Predictive

Timothy, your humble servant here cannot stress enough the value of networking. Here is the reason. There are two "levels" of information. Level two is "reactive," which is what we see after the fact, event in the media. Level one is "predictive," information that tells us who is "coming and going" in the near future. Reactive information is accessible through public access sources. Predictive information, in comparison, however, is verbal. It is not written down. It is the verbal exchange of "news tidbits" at the club, conference, social event, etc. Thus, the most important trend forecasting information is verbal - level one - predictive information. To tap into this level one information, you must move in the "right circles." Rumors, "water cooler" talk, and "gossip" are low-level forms of level-one information. Be careful about gossip. Nobody trusts a gossip. If I gossip about somebody else, I likely will gossip about you. To access level one information requires "keeping our eyes and ears open, and our mouths shut" as much as we can.