Netgalactic News

Enclosed please find abstracts of notes shared within the knowledge community in Knowledge Management Think Tank Discussion Forum, "Knowledge Management - A metaphor for success in the new economy " Comments, feedback, suggestions, welcomed -

Shiladitya 'Sunny' Ghosh [Shiladitya 'Sunny' Ghosh, Head knowledge Management Practice, NetGalactic, Bangalore, India; Writer - Indiaitonline, ITspace, Rectax] - sunny@netgalactic.com

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by Shiladitya 'Sunny' Ghosh on November 22, 2001 at 13:06:33:

In Reply to: Re: Knowledge Management - A metaphor for success in the new economy posted by jef staes on November 22, 2001 at 10:32:17:

Warm greetings again from Bangalore, India. Thank you for your contribution on the subject. I see we have quite well cornered the entire show with Jef, Ponnu, Caroline and Andrew's views ranging from natural working environment to developing / nurturing common sense.

I would love to share a macro view of the same that collectively indicate various ways that knowledge Workers could be born / mentored, within domains. Before i do so, lets go over a particular principle of the subject....

Knowledge Games are arranged / played in multiple - various domains of the industry. The primary players, as defined by Davenport & Thomas, are the Buyers - sellers and the brokers. Buyers are not KM cops, & Very rarely we have a knowledge Seller (Except in the case of a transaction based model) who is willing to articulate his tacit gray matter. A librarian is an ideal knowledge manager who helps to map link articulate & demystify experience (broker).

He certainly is hungry for more, overloaded with information and knowledge, has a lot of common sense, his confidence lies in mapping the entire shelves of libraries of knowledge, he works for long hours, likes to evangelize the need for developing new domain knowledge within his library, can only see the broad picture and dissemination is the core motto of his job. So to answer, "How knowledge workers are born within organizations" - He should have the qualities of a Librarian - Does this make sense. Or, should we say that, a good librarian has an in born knowledge filament with the right sequence of genetic code 'ACGT'?

Secondly, as we know, knowledge managers can differentiate between learning’s and doings. So if we can observe a KM Manager, we might be able to quantify skills of a 'Have Must' KM Manager. Are there any good standard steps of observation - language of attention - that can be monitored to benchmark between a workers - after he has transformed into a knowledge Worker scientifically?

Stepping back to, "Is a knowledge Worker born with some unique structured power - Does Inheritance of Intelligence, applies in totality for him" Chromosome 6 would be the best place to find such a thicket. Yet, years of genetic research have not been able to locate the right pair of sequence which lies in the middle of chromosome 6 gene called IGF2R for developing / transplanting intelligentsia!

Now, we can certainly be sure that it’s not the genes, nor a natural transformation from worker to k-worker. A knowledge Manager would be somebody who has a mix of dominating factors - IQ, thinking speed, reasoning ability, memory, mental arithmetic, education-environmental nurturing & appetite for intellectual pursuits are some quantitative measurable indicators. But above all - He is Structured Chaos - Cyclical in nature, can define patterns and look beyond ...

These are just a few thoughts ... unstructured obviously. Will look forward to hear from you

In Reply to: Knowledge Management - A metaphor for success in the new economy posted by Shiladitya 'Sunny' Ghosh on November 20, 2001 at 11:30:13:

I am currently doing some research on Prior Knowledge and conducting interviews with CEO,CIO & Md's.

The terminology in Australia has a cliche feel to from these peoples perspective, they look at knowledge managers as people who have "common sense" or are leaders, "people who get the job done. They do not consider the words "Knowledge manager" as a valid statement of activity in that knowledge is not managed but supported or nurtured. They look at these people as "people managers" not IT managers or systems managers yet that is where the majority of KM workers are issueing from.

Strangly I have not met HR people who are KM workers although I know they exist they do not appear to be active.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Reply to: Knowledge Management - A metaphor for success in the new economy posted by Shiladitya 'Sunny' Ghosh on November 20, 2001 at 11:30:13:
Hi Sunny

My experience leads me to believe that where people have confidence in their knowledge and ability, they are likely to share it (although not necessarily proactively). They are also the people who are not afraid to ask questions of others (i.e. to admit their lack of knowledge in a specific area and attempt to increase it), thus creating a cooperative, reciprocal environment. Of course, peoples' confidence often grows as their comfort level with a subject rises, thus transforming them from "workers" to a "knowledge workers." It does also raise the question of reward/reinforcement of the value of individual and group knowledge, from a formal and (importantly) informal perspective.

Those who are enthusiasts are also classic knowledge sharers in their realm of interest.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Reply to: Knowledge Management - A metaphor for success in the new economy posted by Shiladitya 'Sunny' Ghosh on November 20, 2001 at 11:30:13:

I feel a worker in the organisation is turned to K-worker by his expertise on the subject and the work that he is doing.

All workers are basically have certains functions in the organisation. K-workers are those persons who takeup and do more work and share his or her knowledge to others in the organisation.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Reply to: Knowledge Management - A metaphor for success in the new economy posted by Shiladitya 'Sunny' Ghosh on November 20, 2001 at 11:30:13:

for me a knowledge worker is sombebody with a passion for his job and the right skills to tap the information (knowledge) flow. He needs new knowledge to perform. For him knowledge is the same as oxygen for an athlete ... without knowledge he just isn't able to do his job. He is able to find his way in the chaotic offer of knowledge. He is a result of the new economy. Knowledge workers are workers who adapt to the new way of working and learning in a fast changing environment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Warm greetings. I am a Knowledge Management consultant based in NetGalactic Bangalore, India.

Over the years, i have been handling assignments of defining knowledge dimensions in various industry segments. My present zeal is to share and network with other km cops / workers, pursuing KM efforts within their organizations.

One present area of interest to me is to ascertain, "How knowledge workers are born within organizations", "Is it a natural transformation from worker to K-worker", or "Is it a knowledge Worker born with some unique structured power".