What makes knowledge spaces so special?
Nonaka etal 2000, "Integrated IT systems to capitalize on market knowledge" in von Krogh etal (eds), "Knowledge creation: a source of value", St Martin's Press, (pp89-109).
Draw attention to ART cycles (attention - reflection -trigger) in knowledge
creation and suggest autonomy, redundancy, creative chaos, requisite
variety and intention, are the key drivers. The authors expand the
SECI model and explain the social, dialog, explicit and integrating components of ' Ba'.
I'm
of the opinion that we need to 'front-load' our knowledge creation
rather than having a focus on validation, as I see Ba - a supporting
environment, as the key to knowledge generation. Validation tends to
look after itself to a large extent and is best handled via informal
practices of social conformance.
Nonaka
and his co-authors highlight the emphasis on explicit information in
western culture and I think they are correct. They illustrate the
concept of a commercial Ba with a case study of a Japanese
Seven-Eleven. Showing how building customer relationships, listening,
engaging & exchanging with customers and co-construction with
suppliers even competitors leads to competitive advantage and increased
profits.
If
there is no Ba, no environment, no trust, no connections, no
relationships, there will be no knowledge, learning, new meaning,
innovation opportunity and most likely no business.
This
is not chicken and egg stuff, it is fundamental to working with
knowledge - the profit, ROI, IC mindset is the wrong foot to start the
race, it sets you off in the wrong direction, it 'forces' you to cut
corners and take the quick gains, gather the low hanging fruit and to
skip over the learning, awareness, community building, the "soft" stuff
that can save your entire company, show you how to come down from your
profit mountain and cross the desert plains in search of another
mountain to climb.
See Knowledge landscapes
An
organization that puts their energy and attention into documentation,
validation & teaching of knowledge assets, without cultivating and supporting the
community that generates and refreshes that knowledge, would have a
false & brittle token and no deep competence.
So what are your opinions around the conditions and affordances necessary to create value via knowledge generation?
What theory and principles would you use to build the best knowledge space!!
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