Worst practice: managing knowledge = a one-size-fits-all IT solution
An organisation's Knowledge Capability is often constrained by poor decisions or what we call "worst practice." - KM Capability being its ongoing ability to efficiently and effectively anticipate, design, develop, deliver and maintain products and/or services that existing and future customers want.
One of the cardinal sins of legacy Knowledge Management projects was the idea that the management of knowledge meant the development of IT solutions - KM was IT and nothing more. Unfortunately, in many organisations, that legacy thinking still prevails today.
Here's the problem:
There are four key knowledge domains that organisation should be aware of, each with its own characteristics (informed by Snowden's Cynefin Model).
IT attempts, even promises, to deliver a one-size-fits-all solutions for these domains - acquisition/storage, sharing, deployment and creation across all domains. However, what tends to happen, if the organisation is lucky, is a solution that only fits the needs of two of the four domains - one-size-fits-some, but certainly not all.
Worst practice occurs when organisations fail to recognise the lack of fit between their one-size-fits-all IT "solution" and the characteristics of the types of knowledge people are working with.
In cases where an integrated (holistic) approach to knowledge capability/management does not take place, dissatisfaction begins to take hold, it festers and, eventually, there is disillusionment with the concept of managing knowledge in the organisation.
When it comes to the management of knowledge in your organisation, what does your IT "solution" look likeand are you on course for worst practice?
