- Realize Its Limitations
Although KM may marginally improve your firm’s capabilities, it is
highly unlikely that it will revolutionize your business. An exam-
ple of this is the promising field of data mining, in which large
amounts of data are sliced and diced looking for heretofore
unknown and potentially profitable correlations. As Michael
Schrage of Fortuneputs it, “Just because [you find that] single, left-
handed, blond customers who drive Volvos purchase 1,450% more
widgets on alternate Thursdays than their married, non-blond,
right-handed, domestic car driving counterparts does not a
marketing epiphany make.”^14 Set realistic objectives for what you
hope to achieve. Better to underpromise than to underdeliver.
- Hold on to Your Best
One stated reason for developing KM is that the valuable knowl-
edge stored in employees’ heads could walk out the door tomorrow
and never return. Since that’s true, it seems like the most obvious
solution is to retain that employee. You know which employees
hold the most knowledge on key subjects. Make sure you use all the
fundamental levers of employee engagement to keep them around:
great developmental opportunities, a strong sense of purpose, and
above-market compensation. To leverage their knowledge, set up
interaction-based forums where they can share this knowledge with
their peers and other interested parties. Tried and true venues, such
as “lunch and learns” (or video “lunch and learns”), in which the
expert presents the latest and greatest knowledge and discusses
how this knowledge was gained, are likely more effective at sharing
real knowledge than a search of the company’s database.
- Use Apprenticeships
It’s difficult to argue that there is a more effective way to transfer
knowledge than through an apprenticeship. You study, quietly
46 LEADINGORGANIZATIONALLEARNING