It is probably no coincidence that many managers evaluate
their organizations’ knowledge management systems based on how
well they store knowledge and make it easily accessible to others,
for these are what electronic KM systems do best. Yet storing and
distributing knowledge efficiently doesn’t guarantee the success of
organizations that compete on the basis of knowledge. As satisfy-
ing as it may be to corral what is already known, doing so may
worsen a dangerous tendency of successful managers: relying too
heavily on past experiences to navigate an uncertain future.
Scholarly investigations of the innovation process reveal that
managers often rely too heavily on lessons learned from the past.
They cling to approaches that have been successful before and
often resist new ideas of all sorts. In fast-changing environments,
these rigidities can be lethal. Ironically, when forward-thinking
organizations begin to formally track and reward employees for
archiving their knowledge and using the archived knowledge of
others, they may exacerbate this problem.
To gain competitive advantage, new knowledge must be cre-
ated and applied to develop new or unique perspectives, products,
and value-adding processes. Creativity, in turn, is a fragile resource
that can be nourished or destroyed by the social dynamics of the
organization. To be sure, easy access to information supports cre-
ativity, but the emotional climate of an organization is perhaps
even more important. Creativity blossoms in organizations that are
characterized by open communication, cohesive relationships
among coworkers, trusting and supportive managers who provide
verbal encouragement and support for innovation, and a shared
commitment to common goals.
Like creativity, learning also depends on more than mere access
to information. As a first step, employees must feel motivated to
learn: the value of learning must be apparent, and the costs
of learning should be small. In many organizations, employees view
“learning” as a remedy for a person’s current deficiencies. The
implicit assumption is that learning is a remedial activity that is
needed when people’s current knowledge is incomplete, old or even
BUILDINGSOCIALCONNECTIONS 257