Leading Organizational Learning

one another’s work and skill, people know what to share and why.
They are likely to know who needs to learn from them. They are
open to requests, they are more likely to trust each other, and they
are more likely to have social connections that enhance and rein-
force their business connections. Smaller organizations that value
sharing and reward teamwork are unlikely to have stagnant pock-
ets of knowledge.
As organizations grow, however, the likelihood increases that
cultural problems will undermine good intentions. In larger enter-
prises, people are less likely to work across the entire organization.
They may work in different locations, different departments, or
even in close proximity, but never work together. They may never
meet each other, or they may know each other only peripherally
and thus not accrue joint experiences that build trust. When peo-
ple do not know each other well, they are less likely to trust each
other. Collaboration will become less of a norm, and knowledge
will get “stuck.” In larger organizations, management must contin-
ually reinforce the values that encourage collaboration and trust,
in order to ensure that the accumulated knowledge of the enter-
prise is brought to the benefit of each consulting client. This may
be evident to any good manager, but many small bits of the man-
agement process and values of a firm combine to affect its ability to
be successful at knowledge sharing.

Barriers to Knowledge Sharing

In our experience, there are many reasons why people do not share
knowledge with their colleagues. Let’s examine a few of them.

• There is no recognition or reward for sharing knowledge.People
  who live the values of the firm must be publicly acclaimed as
  heroes. Stories must be told about their values-driven behavior so
  that others will want to emulate them. The compensation system
  must also identify those who share, and reward them differentially.
  In our organization, we do not compensate recruiters on the basis
  of productivity alone. Rather, numerous partners participate in the

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