Knowledge sharing must be personal before it is organisational. BJ, the sesquipedalian, has picked up on my point about knowledge sharing from my last post. I wrote,
…knowledge management is more about sharing than it is about being correct or knowing where the answer is. When we work from a position of genuine care for the other person in the conversation (in this case even if we don’t know them) our generosity is rewarded with gifts in kind.
To which BJ adds,
The problem with this, in an institutional or organizational setting, is that the structure of management, seniority and promotion is often specifically oriented against knowledge sharing. You might care a great deal about your coworker down the hall, but if maintaining control over a specific set of data means that you’re more likely to get promoted and see more in your paycheck, there’s very little incentive to start becoming a conduit of knowledge…
…What I was driving at is the idea that if knowledge management is to be effective, it must become a way of life in the organization. It must be deemed best practice. And for that to happen, it has to be integrated into the job descriptions, goals and expectations of every individual in the organization.
By refining BJ’s statement a little both arguments are made stronger. “If knowledge management is to be effective in the organization, it must become a way of life in the organization.” And “if knowledge management is to be effective for an individual, it must become a way of life for the individual”.
In 12 months I have begun sharing knowledge wherever I can and the price for my knowledge is an expectation that one day you will return the favour. As a result I’ve developed a much greater sense of care for others which drives me to share more.
The system map below shows how this works for an individual1.
On the left the loop shows that an increase in sharing leads to a greater network and then an increase in opportunities to share. Conversely, the right loop shows what happens if you hoard knowledge. Your network shrinks and you are force to hoard more.
As an individual you have the opportunity to “be the change you wish to see”. Start sharing and observe what happens. Then you and the others you bring with you can begin working on broader organizational objectives for knowledge management.