Can Knowledge Be Managed?
Can Knowledge Be Managed?
This week I dipped my toes into the world of knowledge management at the really well organised Knowledge Summit in Dublin. You might ask, can knowledge be managed? As always: it depends.
Before diving into this question, here are some reflections on the Knowledge Summit itself. (I used ChatGPT to help me summarise this from my notes, but had to rewrite it significantly as it struggled to be sufficiently critical. I wonder if the overly appreciative nature of its writing is one of those Silicon Valley biases.)
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Tacit vs. Explicit Knowledge: The summit highlighted the ongoing challenge of converting tacit knowledge into explicit formats. Experts emphasised the importance of fostering conversations and team interactions to share, exchange, and grow tacit knowledge. While documentation is essential, the richness of knowledge often lies in the nuances shared through direct human interactions. Dave Snowden introduced the heuristic, "we always know more than we can say, we will always say more than we can write down.," illustrating that explicit knowledge without context is often useless. He used the metaphor of the map versus the London taxi driver: some knowledge can be condensed into a map, useful to all who can read it, while other knowledge, like that acquired by London cab drivers through "The Knowledge of London," is deeply tacit and experiential.
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Human Decision-Making: The summit also focused on how AI can improve human decision-making. Eleanor Snowden pointed out the current trend of anthropomorphising AI, while Dave Snowden emphasised that human decision-making is ecological and abductive, influenced by a complex interplay of factors beyond mere data. Human decisions are guided by societal structures and applies pattern-matching, using only about 5% of available data. Dave stressed that AI should adapt to human needs, not the other way around. Sandra Moffett stressed the importance of teaching critical thinking, which AI cannot yet replicate.
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Innovations in KM: Innovations like AI tools for data collection, synthesis, and gap detection could transform KM, providing a more dynamic and interactive approach. However, this should enhance, not replace, human interaction. In his keynote, Zach Wahl pointed out that good KM practices can help AI become more reliable, while AI can automate tedious KM tasks. AI can also tailor training to individual needs and connect people based on specific knowledge requirements.
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Unified KM Strategy: A cohesive strategy integrating capacity development, learning, and KM is essential for enhancing organisational effectiveness. Building KM from the start as an integrative force rather than a stand-alone practice is critical.
The importance of human connections in KM was a recurring theme. In difficult situations, knowing who to call is often more valuable than data itself.
This conference was my first exposure to the KM community. I was struck by the unresolved fundamental questions in a field that has been around for 25-30 years. Discussions on what KM actually entails and the high-level nature of many presentations indicated ongoing debates. Liam Fahey, a KM veteran of 30 years, noted that while KM is more prominent now, the topics remain unchanged; KM is often still isolated and not integrated into other business processes and KM professionals are asking themselves how they can show the value of KM to business managers.
Now back to my question on whether knowledge can be managed. It depends on what you mean by management and by knowledge. While explicit knowledge can be documented and stored, an essential part of knowledge is tacit and only available when needed. Experts often produce knowledge contextually rather than on demand. Building human connections to access tacit knowledge is crucial. Managing knowledge in a company involves making it easier to know who to ask when problems arise.
So, managing knowledge is about fostering environments where knowledge can be effectively shared and accessed, combining explicit documentation with rich, tacit interactions.
Here are Dave Snowden's reflections on the summit.
The Paper Museum
From Frank Herbert's Novel "Children of Dune":
We can still remember the golden days before Heisenberg, who showed humans the walls enclosing our predestined arguments. The lives within me find this amusing. Knowledge, you see, has no uses without purpose, but purpose is what builds enclosing walls. – Leto Artreides II, His Voice
Why have I added this to my Paper Museum? I find the paradox this quote proposes interesting. Knowledge has no uses without purpose, but purpose constraints knowledge. Ponder this!