Knowledge Unplugged: The McKinsey & Company Global Survey on Knowledge Management [Hardcover]

To drive our understanding of knowledge management much further and to reveal links between knowledge management techniques and corporate success, we conducted a global field survey with 40 leading companies in Europe, the US, and Japan. From questionnaires and interviews with a broad range of managers and knowledge management authorities, we gathered insights into a range of techniques for successful knowledge management and found many best-practice examples.

... In assessing how knowledge management works, it was pointless counting activities such as visits to a database. Such simple numbers would add little to our understanding because there is no indication of the substance and depth of the contribution. At one company, for example, the most active intranet page was the daily cafeteria menu. Even tracking pages more closely tied to a company’s business can be misleading since, for instance, the same document may be posted in a virtual team room several times, each with minor changes, but each revision adds only marginal value to the corporate knowledge inventory.

So rather than counting clicks, we looked in more depth at the techniques that managers had put in place to help knowledge management. These went well beyond IT to include, for example, incentive systems that encourage sharing and developing knowledge and policies that allow employees some freedom from their daily work. Such measures help to push many corporate goals forward simultaneously: knowledge management, talent retention, and process efficiency to name a few. Such overlap supports our belief that the knowledge management challenge pervades an entire company and calls for a holistic approach. Randomly employing a knowledge management idea – producing a corporate yellow pages, for instance – is of little help by itself.

FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION

In the...[book]...we lay out a framework for making knowledge much more manageable. We explain a number of successful and proven techniques and give meaningful insights into why knowledge is different, but not unfathomable. Understanding the characteristics of knowledge is essential for a solid grasp of the challenge and a concrete battle plan.

Chapter 2 has a detailed discussion of the overarching theme – the importance of creating the right cultural context within the company. This is about ensuring that your employees want knowledge, crave knowledge and will seek and use knowledge from all available sources. It means thinking beyond IT solutions and actively unplugging your employees from databases and getting them talking.

Chapter 3 looks at the three main tasks of knowledge management: application, distribution and cultivation. The order is important, although perhaps counterintuitive, because the tasks are arranged from application, with the most immediate potential impact, to cultivation, which has longer term possibilities. Also, faulty application can prevent advances made with the other tasks from bearing fruit. In addition, in this chapter we introduce the six characteristics of knowledge that distinguish it from other assets:

subjective – the interpretation of knowledge is heavily dependent on individuals’ background and the context in which it is used

transferable – knowledge can be extracted from one context and profitably applied in a new one

embedded – knowledge invariably resides in a static and often buried form that cannot easily be moved or reformulated

self-reinforcing – knowledge does not lose value when shared, indeed its value grows when widely distributed

perishable – over time, knowledge becomes outdated, especially for an individual organization, although there can be unpredictable volatility

spontaneous – knowledge can develop unpredictably in a process that cannot always be controlled.

In the following six chapters, we elaborate on each of these characteristics and outline what specific management techniques should be deployed and combined in order to work most effectively with them. By focusing on each characteristic, we recognize that the techniques may change over time – after all, few companies still rely on indentured servitude to fill their workbenches – but the characteristics will remain constant. Therefore, a deeper but practically informed understanding of knowledge will make it easier to adapt to social, technological, and cultural developments. In these chapters, we also present the results of the survey, outline best practice techniques and present relevant case studies.

In Chapter 10, we describe a method of diagnosis we have developed as a result of our analysis of the survey results, and particularly feedback meetings with the participating companies. Using the characteristics as a starting point, companies can identify how to ensure that a knowledge management program produces the desired outcome. The analysis also helps to prioritize the elements of an action plan and draw a knowledge management roadmap for the company.

Finally, in Chapter 11, we take a broader view, looking at how knowledge management might evolve. From the CEO down through the hierarchy to the line workers, every employee will have to become a self-driven chief knowledge officer. Knowledge management cannot be delegated to a separate unit, but must be an integral part of the way everyone thinks and acts. Rocket science may require a lot of knowledge, but managing that knowledge is not rocket science.