Starting with information flows from the bottom is exactly right. 25 years ago, I designed such a process (called Information Flow Analysis) to the benefit of several organizations large and small who gained insight into how they worked and how to improve them. It worked because it built up from the bottom. You are right to say that data and stories give context. You can't tell a story without context. In fact, John Seeley Brown said that story was the smallest form of knowledge because it conveyed the context. However, saying that knowledge plus stories are personal ignores the reality that stores are a great deal more than personal. They are social. Our relationships connect us and our stories. Taken together, our stories form the narrative and define us as a people, as a society, as a culture. Stories carry our values, our beliefs, and our priorities. Knowledge and stories are so much more.