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Knowledge management – the basic ingredients Judy Payne – Hemdean Consulting Martin Fisher – WRAP
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Knowledge management– the basic ingredients
Judy Payne – Hemdean Consulting
Martin Fisher – WRAP
APM Knowledge SIG team
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Key messages
• Knowledge is not the same as information.• Knowledge can never be captured completely.• KM has to connect people to people, not just to
information.• The environment is more important than the
techniques you use.• Be clear about your KM purpose.
Your experiences of KM
What tools and techniques do you use for managing knowledge?
NOT DEVELOPING A WORKING DEFINITION OF KNOWLEDGE
Error 1
knowledge
data
information
Data, information and knowledge
Explicit and tacit knowledge
Explicit: knowledge that can readily be codified into words and numbers. Easy to share. Difficult to protect.
Tacit: knowledge that is personal and difficult to express. What we don’t know we know. Difficult to share. The most valuable kind of knowledge.
Why does this matter?
Managing explicit knowledge
Capture and codify as much as you can. Share.
Quite easy to do – and easy to copy.
Document management, case studies, lessons learned databases.
Managing tacit knowledge
Encourage people to connect, communicate and collaborate.
More difficult to do – and more difficult to copy.
Communities of practice, conversations, apprenticeships.
What happens if you don’t have a working definition of knowledge?
DIKW
data
information
knowledge
wisdom
Data does not create information; information does not create knowledge and knowledge does not create wisdom. People use their knowledge to make sense of data and information. People create information that represents their knowledge, which can then be more widely shared.
Harold Jarche
A working definition of knowledge
Knowledge is a fluid mix of framed experience, values, contextual information, and expert insight that provides a framework for evaluating and incorporating new experiences and information. It originates and is applied in the minds of knowers. In organisations, it often becomes embedded not only in documents or repositories but also in organisational routines, processes, practices and norms.
Davenport and Prusak, 1998
Knowledge and knowing
Things an
individual can expres
s
Things a group can express
Individual skills, intuition, judgement Shared
understanding
Knowing (as action)
Explicit
Tacit
Individual Group
Cook and Brown, 1999
EMPHASISING KNOWLEDGE STOCK TO THE DETRIMENT OF KNOWLEDGE FLOW
Error 2
The Wheelbarrow Test
Knowledge flows
Right, I’m going to tell you everything I know about KM
Actually, I’ve already told you a lot. You got it yet?
Erm, yes. Of course. We’re not stupid, you know.
Good, off you go then and be good at KM.
Thank you.
No idea what she’s talking about....
Knowledge flows
More knowledge flows...
What helps knowledge to flow?
• Time, trust and territory (Miles, Snow and Miles)
• Hire smart people and let them talk to one another (Davenport and Prusak)
• Shared language• Strong business relationships
It’s the environment,
stupid!
Hierarchies ....and networks
• Relationships mandated• Top-down control• Good for sharing
information and managing explicit knowledge
• Tend to be formal• Managed ‘traditionally’
• Relationships voluntary• Emergent, bottom-up• Good for collaboration,
knowledge-sharing, learning and managing tacit knowledge
• Tend to be informal• Managed by letting go
KM isn’t an exercise in collecting...
With thanks to Chris Collison for the butterflies metaphor
Neither is it an IT project!
DISENTANGLING KNOWLEDGE FROM ITS USES
Error 6
Some basic questions...
What are we trying to achieve?
What knowledge processes are needed?
What’s needed to make the knowledge processes work?
What methods and tools does this suggest?
Back to your KM techniques...
1. Are they based on knowledge or information?
2. Do they focus on knowledge stocks or knowledge flows?
3. Do they achieve their purpose?
