For the enterprise to unlock
the tacit knowledge of its workers, and to develop useful business
intelligence about its processes in real time, data has to be turned
into information that connects with decision makers at all levels,
enterprise-wide.
But for this to happen, the culture of
possession that exists around knowledge must give way to a new culture
of information sharing. And even with the tools available to begin
building the infrastructure, the culture of needing a reason to share
information still stands in the way.
“Today’s CLOs find themselves in a measurement
Catch-22: To successfully demonstrate the impact learning has on
business results requires a willingness from management to provide
access to key performance and result metrics, but management is often
reluctant to provide this access when it doesn’t recognize training’s
strategic value in the first place. Given this stalemate, then, it is
no surprise that IDC’s survey results show very little has changed on the measurement front in the past three years.” – Analysis Paralysis: The Stagnant State of Measurement
Learning officers in the enterprise find
their task an uphill journey, and the notion of tacit knowledge only
tenuously held by stakeholders. “Training” is an old term, well
understood within the old industrial economy, but poorly understood in
the knowledge economy.
The concept of training and
knowledge transfer carries rigid hierarchical connotations that will
take time, effort, and no small talent in communication to overthrow.
Even
in the area of customer information, where software development is most
strongly focused today, the culture of possession hinders the flow of
data across departmental and personal borders.
“Customer information and knowledge also inspire a
high level of politics and passion. If knowledge is power, customer
knowledge is high-octane power; it is unlikely to be shared without
reluctance. The salesperson with valuable customer information on index
cards in his trunk or laptop, the service department with valuable
information on what customers think about new products, the marketing
organization with highly detailed customer attitudes and behavior from
focus groups and surveys—all have some reason to keep control of what
they know about customers. Senior general managers, however, generally
prefer to make customer knowledge an organizational resource. And
therein lies the conflict.” – Managing Customer Knowledge
How do senior corporate executives break
down these barriers? What kind of lubrication can they pour into the
machine to loosen up the flow of data, and yet without creating an
incomprehensible flood?
It may be that an element of
“people’s revolution” needs to come into the mix. This is not the kind
of language that executives in charge of keeping the machine running
smoothly like to hear. But the old ways haven’t worked.
“But here is the thing: most folks are having serious
issues about capturing that same tacit knowledge through the usage of
traditional KM tools because of how difficult it actually is. No
wonder. Of course, it is! And that is perhaps one of the main reasons
why it has failed all along for a good number of years already! And
still very much so.” – Strategies and Tactics for Business Results
The perfection of knowledge management was
supposed to be the golden age. And executives are truly excited by the
prospect of business intelligence that tells them something useful. As
this scenario is satirically portrayed:
“Suddenly senior management can really have their
finger on the business pulse; the digital nervous system now promises
to become a reality, and we are moving boldly forward into the realms
of business intelligence that will not only tell companies what they
have done wrong in the past but will assist decision-makers to
formulating winning strategies for the future of organizations. What
senior executive could possibly turn down the opportunity to be on top
of all aspects of the business that they are responsible for?” – Business Process Intelligence
Even so, this embodies a good vision, one
that the enterprise is making its way towards with as much agility –
that word again – as it possesses. Culture may be its biggest obstacle
to reaping the harvest of its own information. Dion Hinchcliffe
nominates Enterprise 2.0 as a corporate culture catalyst to provide the greatest erosion of the old culture, and to allow the new one to form.
And as we and many other commentators suggest, IT people can change their own culture and actively deploy the today’s tools of revolutionary software, to help their senior executives in the task of changing the corporate culture from knowledge greed to knowledge largesse.
