Intellectual capital must be accessible to have value. The notion of knowledge management is potent, but the need for a collaborative, sharing culture is not well understood. New ideas, technologies, and reengineering of processes are perceived as the secrets to successful outcomes but do not materialize without the appropriate culture. Fear of commitment Knowledge sharing and innovation are often the desired outcomes, but behavior often reflects the opposite. When professional standing depends on what one knows that others don t, there is a negative consequence to sharing.
Electronic compatibility is an essential foundation for sharing within and across sites.
The ability to communicate easily is a basic necessity. The bogeyman The concept that unarticulated knowledge is an asset like gold, manufacturing equipment, or real estate is profoundly wrong. Although there is often more learning from mistakes than successes, it makes good sense to learn from somebody else s mistakes to create principles for success. The relationship of KM to leadership, and particularly Reflective Human Action, is obvious to this writer. The culture needs to create mechanisms and trust to support the value of sharing.