Why doesn’t knowledge matter?

Ask most people in business today the question ‘does knowledge matter?’ and the answer would probably be a resounding yes. But, maybe, the question we should be asking is ‘does knowledge matter in our organization?’ If we asked this question, I think we’d receive a very different response.

Why is this?

Making the connection

I believe answers to these questions would differ because we haven’t yet made the connection between what people intuitively know and what organizations intuitively do. The reasons for this disconnect are many, but primarily it’s because management of corporate knowledge resources, or KM, is neither readily understood nor valued by the leaders of most organizations. Senior managers have not been persuaded to believe that KM is anything other than the latest and greatest fad to invade the corporate playground.

If KM isn’t to mirror the fortunes of many previous business opportunities that went nowhere, we need to do a much better job of de-mystifying the issue. We need to show that KM is neither elitist nor impractical. In fact, we need to demonstrate that it is exactly the opposite.

Start with the ‘C’ word

Recently, I attended a KM conference where many presenters explained how they have adopted euphemisms instead of actually portraying theirs is a KM initiative. If we are afraid to even use the term KM, things are worse than I imagined.

If we are to persuade senior management of the importance of KM, we need to start by addressing the issue of change management: the people factor. Most organizations tend to focus first on the need to change their culture, but I think this misses the point. While culture is a crucial factor, it is also self-evident that cultures are infinitely adaptable given the right set of circumstances. I believe we should be more concerned with the other ‘C’ word—communications. Culture can adapt and change, but not if it exists in a vacuum. Communication is key to ensure people, and the culture they embody, are ready and able to change.

Short visions last longer

We need to communicate a common vision and definitions of KM before we get too deeply into pitching investment opportunities. I like short vision statements—six words only in my department’s case—and a KM definition and goals that every business manager and employee understands. It doesn’t matter if a definition is considered ‘right’ or ‘wrong’; semantic warfare among so-called experts leaves me cold. Any KM definition is right if it’s a good fit for your business goals, if your organization understands it and, most importantly, if your senior managers get it.

Guiding principles for better KM

There are a number of guiding principles that can be applied to any KM initiative. I call them the 5 C’s:

• corporate alignment: Alignment with business drivers is your only hope for success;

• credible targets: Small is the only way to become big.

• clear language: If people don’t understand KM, they won’t do it.;

• constant communications: If you don’t communicate KM, the best you can ever hope for is to be a sideshow event.;

• consultation and collaboration: There’s no point in leading the charge for KM if no one is behind you.

One bite at a time

I believe in the power of advertising; the 15-second sound bite is seriously underestimated within most organizations, especially in the public sector. The threads of our lives are very often connected through the retention of sound bites that provide an index to the contents of our memory banks. We can remember adverts that ran 30 years ago, yet can’t recall what our spouses said yesterday. So, why do we tend to make everything so complicated and difficult to understand? We need to communicate much more clearly and concisely. We need to provide a sound-bite roadmap to KM implementation within our organizations—a roadmap that will be easy to understand and remember.

A winning strategy

A winning strategy for any KM initiative is a composite of many different requirements: fiscal, cultural and operational. Whatever you have by way of a strategic plan, it needs to have the virtue of simplicity.

Whatever your plan is, I suggest a quick reality check before you present it to your boss. Select a couple of people in your organization who have absolutely no idea what you’re doing and see what they make of it. If they understand your stated goals and outcomes, then you’re probably pitching it at the right level. If they don’t understand, try ratcheting down the ‘KM-speak’ a notch.

The power of KM

The success of any KM initiative depends on many factors, some within our control, some not. Most people share knowledge every day in differing ways, often without even realizing that this is what they’re doing. We need to find a way to manage these sharing activities to the benefit of everyone within our organizations.

If information is power, then knowledge management is the power to help us make better decisions