Knowledge-at-work

Gathering knowledge

Answering a question in Brint's ThinkTank.

"How would you recommend that the 'knowledge' is gathered? Thru databases? internet libraries? or maybe surveys? forums? focus groups?"

My answer. There are a number of ways to gather knowledge in addition to those you mention:

a) Collect the insights that percolate from work related conversations

b) Record the 'best' solutions to commom problems and issues

c) Construct an ontology / taxonomy, identify gaps and seek expertise to fill them

d) Encourage collection, indexing and distribution of best practices and lessons learned

e) Conduct formal After Action Reviews (AARs), encourage periodic reflections, craft patterns top collect solutions that work from experience

f) Apply knowledge harvesting techniques using tools such as Infinos or HKc

g) Perform acquisition using knowledge engineering methods

h) Use a technique called enumerative description to ask questions and gather key situational diagnostics

g) Set up a question driven community, e.g. using Organik and mine the insights

h) Construct 'profiles' and have a space where issues can be discussed and pushed to key decision makers, e.g. using Vignette dialog
i) Mine electronic messages and construct dynamic profiles using products like Autonomy or Tacit to link people to people via content matching.

In my experience structured questionnaires and surveys are the least effective may to gather knowledge, which is emergent and very context dependent. I strongly favor communities of practice and knowledge networking where emergent insights and shared meaning are evaluated, continuous learning happens, and participants are kept aware of developments by their peers.

Measurements

To my way of thinking control/ measurement/improvement is NOT the way to move forward with KM, why?

* KM is mainly about tacit stuff - it requires a 'soft' systems approach

* Knowledge is almost impossible to measure - leads and lags, synergy, flow and synchronicity intervene to confuse the picture

* KM works best when there is alignment, collaboration and social learning - this is not project management material rather empathy, identity and 'Ba'. - working with knowledge is different than most other tasks and activities. There must be trust, a desire to learn, some reflection and critique. You cannot speed knowledge exchanges by adding more people or providing more resources (typical project management strategies). Knowledge work depends on different drivers - identity, learning and meaning.

* Social capital, networked relationships and reciprocity rule - this is a hard landscape for hierarchy, six sigma and algorithms to traverse. - For knowledge to flow there must be relationships, quite different from command and control ties that have set roles, authority, responsibility and accountability. You cannot order or expect knowledge creation - it has to be cultivated, you need safe spaces, experimentation, tolerance of failure (promotes learning). There are no fixed or easy rules, few logical formulas and no dependence that ensures a predetermined result.

Here are some links to KM measurements, be wary of the terrain!