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It seems that a disadvantage of moving to a paperless office is that things are…well…paperless.  The tangible nature of things encourages people to store them in places where they are less likely to be damaged or stolen - fireproof safes, records storage, etc.

As we forge further into the knowledge economy one thing to keep in mind is that our digital documents are just as valuable as their paper-based ancestors.  I’m preaching from a pulpit of experience here - recently I allowed a family member that was a self-proclaimed computer pro to do what we thought were some simple updates to my laptop.  Five hours and many expletives later he was finished.  I awoke the next morning and and when I fired up the machine all emails, contacts, calendar entries and 1,000s of saved reference sites and documents were sorely missed.

I was able to retrieve the documents through an on-line back-up service I was using and I saved my contacts due to my BlackBerry - my emails and calendar items were gone for good.

This experience forever etched in my brain the delicate nature of the goods with which we work now in a knowledge economy.  Not being able to recover these things would be akin to a manufacturing shop losing their tools and machines during the industrial age.  When those items are tangible it can be easier to remember to lock them away for safekeeping - when they’re digital sometimes it’s less obvious.

I’ve heard many people say “I’ve been meaning to back this up for a long time.” yet they ensure their cars and homes are locked and jewelry is stowed.

Learn from me and others (and perhaps your own experience) and ensure the goods and tools of your knowledge work is protected just the way you would your gear during the Industrial Age.  It can be quite painful otherwise.