Working Knowledge

"Most people have an intuitive sense that knowledge is broader, deeper, and richer than data or information."

"Because knowledge is such a slippery concept, it's worth reflecting a bit on some of its key components, such as experience, truth, judgment, and rules of thumb."

"Explicitly recognizing knowledge as a corporate asset is new, as is understanding the need to manage and invest it with the same care paid to getting value from other, more tangible assets."

"Knowledge is the most sought-after remedy to uncertainty."

"A knowledge seller will spend the time and effort needed to share knowledge effectively if he expects the buyers to be willing sellers when _he_ is in the market for their knowledge."

"By "market signals" we mean information that indicates both where knowledge actually resides in the organization and how to gain access to it."

"Three factors in particular often cause knowledge markets to operate inefficiently in organizations: the incompleteness of information about the knowledge market; the asymmetry of knowledge; and the localness of knowledge."

"Some knowledge markets have deep flaws that we call knowledge market pathologies: distortions that drastically inhibit the flow of knowledge."

"Recognizing knowledge exchange as a market leads to commonsense strategies that can make the market more robust."

"The most direct and often most effective way to acquire knowledge is to buy it?that is, to buy an organization or hire individuals that have it. "

"Because dedicated knowledge resources are by definition somewhat distinct from the everyday work of an organization, transferring knowledge to where it can be used is often complicated."

"Emphasize the creative potential inherent in the complexity and diversity of ideas, seeing differences as positive, rather than sources of conflict, and avoiding simple answers to complex questions."

"The various reasons that companies have trouble adapting to changes in their environments all come down to the essential fact that history matters."

"Networks often need help from professional knowledge editors or network facilitators, who can record knowledge that would otherwise remain in the heads of experts."

"The aim of codification is to put organizational knowledge into a form that makes it accessible to those who need it."

"Although the term "knowledge management" implies formalized transfer, one of its essential elements is developing specific strategies to encourage spontaneous exchanges."

"Knowledge transfer involves two actions: transmission (sending or presenting knowledge to a potential recipient) and absorption by that person or group."

"While specialists are clearly critical to the success of knowledge management, even more important are the activities and attitudes of those who are paid to do something other than manage knowledge."

"Of all the CKO responsibilities, three are particularly critical: building a knowledge culture, creating a knowledge management infrastructure, and making it all pay off economically."

"Knowledge technologies deal most frequently with text rather than numbers, and text in relatively unstructured forms, such as clauses, sentences, paragraphs, and even stories."

"The good news about knowledge management is that good sense goes a long way."