Comments on: KM should just be

By: Ric

Ric — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 01:34:12 +0000

KM, Innovation, Collaboration – all concepts generally misunderstood and mishandled in organisations. Having an innovation/KM/collaboration department or manager is almost certainly counterproductive because it becomes “that person’s” job, not mine/everybody’s.

The issue seems to be a desire to ‘tick boxes’ rather than take a deep dive into what is really required to make an organisation more effective.

By: Gavin Heaton

Gavin Heaton — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 01:22:07 +0000

I think one of the interesting things about web 2.0 is that is allows us to give knowledge management a social dimension. Rather than treating knowledge as codified, discrete elements, a social perspective gives knowledge life and context. It also takes KM out of a “you must” framework and places it into a value/social currency framework where participation is its own reward.

Great topic!

By: Ben Winter-Giles

Ben Winter-Giles — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:45:50 +0000

Hi Stephen,

I take your point, and actually agree quite honestly.

I think however the problem with “organisations” is that organisations are by definition, organisations of people. It’s the people inside that “make KM happen”. I’d hazard to suggest that the more serious problem is that despite the technology being available to passively handle a wide variety of KM issues, the cultural and / or behavioural practices of the individuals within the organisation is where the sweet spot lies.

More often than not, I see through out the various large organisations I’ve been involved with, the concepts of knowledge sharing, management, codification and all that other good stuff, is typically viewed as someone else’s problem.

And I think that stems from the end users, not having genuinely been exposed to the values of solid KM practices.

Of course, you could argue that many people do in fact (as end users) partake in the value provided of world wide KM in the form of “I don’t know XXXXX so I’ll just Google it”.

And from that point I see yet another cultural problem, that DOES stem from the organisation. Primarily from the leadership. I find that many people actually fear saying formally (in the form of a public exposure of ones thoughts on blogs, pages, bulletin boards and so on) and thus, they are not empowered or supported by “the organisation” to do so, and therefore, you get that knowledge wastage effect.

*end 2 bits worth.