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Knowledge Management

Why should you care about Knowledge Management?

Because you want not only to survive, but also to thrive.

We have found that most problems and challenges of knowledge management are not necessarily problems related to information or technologies, rather they are problems related to the dominant industrial model of management. Many of today’s management 'best practices', management textbooks, management theories, and latest business news stories are often founded on archaic logic and assumptions fit for the businesses and economies of the bygone era. Such outmoded thinking based upon faulty logic and assumptions and oblivious of fundamental knowledge may be harmful to the financial health and business performance of corporate enterprises, institutions, societies, and governments.

Do you understand why the advice noted in the Harvard Business School's widely adopted MBA text for MIS could have led to failures of knowledge management systems and programs? Do you recognize why many popular theories and practices about managing people, processes, and technologies could be responsible for some of the largest corporate and national failures? Unless the fundamentally problematic logic of managing and integrating people and processes with technology is corrected, costs of such failures are expected to grow exponentially. The articles published in some of the world's most respected outlets and archived here explain the above issues in greater depth.

Are you aware that more than 70% IT based systems result in implementation failures despite increasing sophistication of information technologies? You may expect more if those problems are not corrected! Have you heard about the '9/11' national catastrophe or mega-failures such as Enron? You may expect worse if those people and process related misunderstandings are not rectified! Have you heard about the Big-5 consulting firm that imploded despite its core focus on 'best practices' and 'systems integration'? Then you perhaps recognize how organizations and systems need to go much beyond those practices for sustained survival! Then you also perhaps realize why much deeper understanding about people and processes is critical for getting the most out of your knowledge management programs. Doing so is not only desirable, but critical for sustained performance and survival in the new world of business! Widely influential published articles archived here discuss these and other industry case studies to help you understand the above issues in greater depth.

Despite recognition of the above problems by the enlightened managers of IT and business organizations, some 'armchair pundits' have a peculiar point of view. They proclaim that because business users don't pay IT providers for addressing such 'management problems', the providers should continue their focus on selling the IT 'silver bullets'. Those heeding such specious reasoning are reminded about the sage advice of the renowned software engineer and computer scientist Frederick Phillips Brooks, Jr. who had mentioned that "the very nature of the software makes it unlikely that there will be any silver bullet." He had also noted the importance of growing systems instead of building them. They should heed the keynote of the visionary chief who turned around IBM from one of the largest corporate business failures in recent history. In this keynote, he had emphasized that problems of IT provisioning cannot be solved without tackling related management and implementation problems. The articles archived here will help you recognize, understand, and apply these important insights for developing truly adaptive systems.

Some other IT pundits who continue to focus on the tool while oblivious of the user and the context of application, seem lost in comparing 'computers' with 'pencils'. They need to heed the cautionary observation from none other than the father of modern management Peter Drucker: "The computer is merely a tool in the process...To put it in editorial terms, knowing how a typewriter [or computer or pencil] works does not make you a writer. Now that knowledge is taking the place of capital as the driving force in organizations worldwide, it is all too easy to confuse data with knowledge and information technology with information." We focus on differences that make a real difference to the sustained performance and survival of organizations, nations, and societies. We cut through the semantics to focus on knowledge that really matters and knowledge management that really works! In our perspective, unless it works it isn't knowledge management: "The wise see knowledge and action as one."

Therefore take it a step at a time and remember that unless you get really thinking, start questioning the status quo, and then generate the 'Ah Ha!' insights, you have still way to go to get the KM mantra. Skip what seems difficult to follow, find what is interesting and relevant to solving your problems, and then apply it! Improvise and adapt what you read as needed until it works for solving your problems. Revisit and review the contents as you advance your learning and its application to generate new insights. Many others have done it around the world, so can you! What matters most is your own contextual understanding of your problems, your passionate pursuit to resolve them, and diligent use of this site as a sounding board. The credit goes to you for solving your problems! As long as this site helps you discover the important questions and make progress in solving your problems, our job as a beacon [if you may] in guiding the learner through the fog of unknowingness will be accomplished.