Knowledge Flow describes how knowledge behaves in a company. The best analogy is that of water. Like water, knowledge is not static. It flows about a company from person to person, carrying thoughts and ideas to new places. It seeks out cracks and flows through into new territory. Sometimes a flow gets trapped and goes nowhere resulting in stagnation and other times it creates a standing wave and ideas build into something never before seen.
During a “knowledge game” session I saw a powerful example of this. The group of seven participants formed their chairs into a small circle no more than 2 metres across and began a dialogue on the nature of knowledge. As an observer and using the analogy of water I saw a small but deep pool into which ideas were pouring and then sloshing around. Ideas were tangible as they flowed across from person to person, or rippled around the edges until somebody latched onto one and gave it the energy needed to become a wave, at which point it could cross the container by itself. For me, I now have a powerful image with which to understand flow. More reading on knowledge flow can be found in a previous posting on The experience of the soul.