So, what is Knowledge Management?

That’s a good question, but the answer you get depends on who you’re asking.

Knowledge Management is the logical next step beyond Information Management, a term that puts a more upscale spin on what we used to call Data Processing. Thanks largely to computers, we’re hip deep in information. But it’s not clear that we’ve gotten any smarter.

Despite the wealth of information at our fingertips, it’s not clear that we’re more in touch with ourselves, or more in control of our lives or more able to make better decisions. We’ve probably got too much information, in fact, and what we’re really looking for is knowledge.

Knowledge Management is a way of thinking about this problem. It’s a discipline for seeking out the places where knowledge lies, in both tacit and explicit forms. It’s a way of understanding where knowledge comes from, so we can make more of it. It’s also a way of developing strategies to improve the flow of knowledge in different contexts. And while there are technologies to automate one element or another, you can’t do KM by installing software. Good technology can help, but it can’t get you there by itself.

KM is not a new idea. It’s something people have been doing for as long as we’ve been around, using whatever tools were available. In the end, it’s one of the fundamental things that defines us – a desire to understand, to learn and to pass the lessons on.

The Benefits

Lew Platt generally gets credit for one of the first KM catch-phrases. When he was CEO of Hewlett-Packard, he summed it all up by saying “If HP only knew what HP knows.”

Billions and billions of dollars are spent every year by companies trying to know what they know. And next year, a lot of those companies will be wondering if it was all worth it.

You absolutely can get real, honest-to-goodness benefits from Knowledge Management if you choose your investments wisely. We’ve found that smaller, more tactical programs are often the best way to go. They don’t run quite so hard against cultural barriers, and a program of incremental changes may take you further in the long run.

When you dissolve the material at a high temperature and then cool the solution, the material sometimes doesn't crystallize out because the molecules don't know how. They require something to get them started, a seed crystal, or a grain of dust or even a sudden scratch or tap on the surrounding glass. He walked to the water tap to cool the solution but never got there. Before his eyes, as he walked, he saw the star of crystalline material in the solution appear and then grow suddenly and radiantly until it filled the entire vessel. He saw it grow… - Robert Pirsig Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

You need to find the seeds of the crystal that fits best within the shape of your organization. There are no one-size-fits-all answers, but we can help you ask the right questions. We know the territory, and we’ve spent time in the trenches. We can help get you started, and we know how to get results. Plus, we’re friendly as all get out.

Talk to us.

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