Knowledge is Power?
Francis Bacon is famous for saying, "knowledge is power." This is quite evident in that individuals, entities, companies, and even countries fight to control the flow and access to knowledge (see China). Knowledge is indeed precious. Before the technological age, knowledge was scarce and more often than not pertinent. After the invention of the Internet, knowledge became more plentiful. To further complicate things was the social media boom. Social media has made everyday mundane errands 'news.' Today there is an (almost) over-saturation of knowledge and the majority of it is unimportant.
What exactly does this mean for organizations where knowledge is free flowing and so crucial for business? Well, organizations want knowledge to flow internally. The free flow of experiential knowledge can help an organization run smoother and products to be developed and produced more efficiently. The job of the knowledge manager is to make sure this knowledge is transferred in a useable, manageable way. In a large organization too much knowledge transferred haphazardly means that the pertinent knowledge 'falls through the cracks.' The responsibility of the knowledge manager is to make sure knowledge is transferred timely and efficiently through work groups. Maybe through the creation of small group emails or bulletin boards or blogs where the knowledge manager culls through the information and passes it along to her or his manager.
The 'publish-then-filter' phenomenon is an interesting one. While an asset during the recent Egyptian revolution where there was so much data it could not be filtered out by the government. It can be the death knell for an organization who may not want its secrets and operational strategies to made public. It is the knowledge manager's responsibility to maintain organizational policies to make sure company secrets are securely kept within the aforementioned email network, bulletin boards, or blogs. Security is the key here. There must be the implementation of a security network for keeping company knowledge in-house. Because this type of knowledge is where the true power of an organization lies.
Thanks for bringing how trade secrets are at risk in the "publish-then-filter" phenomenon. The free publishing privilege should be closely monitored by ethical and moral standards. Using a different example, when the musician Rihanna was assaulted by Chris Brown, the officer that took the photos of her (battered) was found guilty of sharing these photos. They ended up on a celebrity website called TMZ. The officer was terminated but this is the type of action that damages another person's dignity.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nashobapublishing.com/ci_25391325/firing-officer-who-shared-rihanna-photo-upheld
Ivette,
DeleteIt's so difficult in a world where almost every mobile phone is a high definition still camera and/or video camera. Almost nothing is private. As I mentioned to Britt below, this leads to a conundrum of sorts. Thanks to the proliferation of technology, injustices have and will continued to be aired, but at the cost of personal privacy (as in the Rihanna case you mentioned). We are definitely at a strange crossroads of sorts.
Knowledge is power, and the power to access this information in secret is a very dangerous one. If you look at the recent NSA bulk data seizure program; the public is being told that there has not been a single example of any abuse by the NSA of this database.
ReplyDeleteIf that is the case, then why is it that the some of the caretakers of this knowledge database used their access to this data to cyberstalk their love interests? Isn't 'stalking' of this type illegal and if illegal; then isn't it abuse?
The power to search all our communications – or all our third-party records – is a power too great to put into in the government’s hands. Unlike private business like Verizon or Google, those in government have a strong incentive and desire to suppress dissent – along with their political rivals – and need only the means and justifiable reasons to do so. Governments, unlike private companies, have the ability to snatch up anyone on their enemies targeting list should their searches turn up anything incriminating.
Verizon and Google have neither the motive nor the means to restrict our liberties or to charge us with treason.
Whether legal or illegal, constitutional or unconstitutional, knowledge is power and the question is, even in this great democratic country; is it too much power to give this much knowledge to any agency of government?
You commented on the internal organizational knowledge management. I thought it was interesting this week as I attended a district meeting, in light of this week's readings (especially Nancy Dixon's work), that I noticed the way in which our district has been working over the past couple of years to form accessible "knowledge/information repositories" that inform communities of practice. We are perhaps behind the power curve in facilitating a timely free flow, and, while enthusiastic and hopeful, are indeed still coming to terms with 21st century realities as an organization. I do not believe we are at all unique in that respect!
ReplyDeleteAs always, Robert, an insightful post!
ReplyDeleteYou raised the issue "...to make sure company secrets are securely kept.." For you and others - is there really such a thing as a "secret" anymore? What does KM mean in a Wikileaks kind of world?
I believe we are in the midst of a conundrum. The free flow of knowledge and information makes is near impossible for 'secrets' to be kept. The only way to keep secrets is to halt the free flow of knowledge and information, see totalitarian regimes like China (if I may beat a dead horse). For organizations, a similar totalitarian-like control must be exerted over the free flow of knowledge and information. Even then, I believe the knowledge manager's task is next to impossible.
Delete