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!

Comments

[David Locke]

Just read a paper last week that showed that strong-tie networks increased product success for continuous innovation, and that weak-tie networks increased product success for discontinuous or radical innovation.

Are your measures local or global?

Going back to my earlier comment about the inner ear vs neurons, it breaks down to weak-tie networks (ear) and strong-tie networks (neural networks). Balance is lost and then regained. Balance is discontinuous innovation. Neural networks insist on continuous innovation. Evolution similarly is a loose-tie network. Man manages their projects as strong-tie networks.

[Alex]

Hi,
great post. I think knowledge is impossible to measure, but possible to value (ie: through stories). But practices of knowledge management can be measured in different ways: maturity models, storytelling, cost analysis, collaborative climate indes...and so on.
I agree, control measurement has no meanings in the area of KM, but impact measurement has !