Something from left to read
Five reasons people don’t tell what they know
1. People believe that knowledge is power
…When a company’s evaluation, promotion and compensation are based on relative numbers, the perception is that sharing knowledge will (always) reduce the chance of personal success…
So, (1) change the reward system and (2) use other motivators than money.
2. People are insecure about the value of their knowledge
…There are mini-cultures in every organization. Regardless of the overall corporate culture, individual managers and team leaders can nurture a climate for collaboration within their own work group or staff. And the best of these leaders do so by taking the time and effort necessary to make people feel safe and valued. They emphasize people’s strengths while encouraging the sharing of mistakes and lessons learned. They set clear expectations for outcomes and clarify individual roles. They help all members recognize what each of them brings to the team. They model openness, vulnerability and honesty. They tell stories of group successes and personal challenges. And most of all, they encourage and respect everyone’s contribution…
3. People don’t trust each other
People need to trust each other to share, and building this “social capital” takes time
4. Employees are afraid of negative consequences
…Knowledge is highly contextual. It is triggered by circumstance, such as when the “right people” happen to meet at the right time and discover, in the course of conversation, that each has information needed by the other. So two things seem evident: 1) Knowledge sharing has an elusive, circumstantial quality, and 2) It is in the combination (and collision!) of ideas that creative breakthroughs most often occur…
When challenging and stupid ideas are not criticises…
5. People work for other people who don’t tell what they know
…Today, informed collaboration is seen as essential for organizational success, and leaders need to make sure that every employee has access to every fact about every aspect of the business–terrifying or not–including finances, competitive products/services and organizational strategy. Moreover, this calls for an increased investment in educational and personal development programs so that all employees have enough practical background to utilize the business data being shared…
In addition, there are more ideas from readers’ comments
- people often don’t share because they assume there is no need to
- they are isolated physically, mentally and/or socially
- language barriers
- legal issues, particularly when you have joint ownership of companies
- international situations, such as embargos
Tags: knowledge sharing, motivationArchived version of this entry is available at http://blog.mathemagenic.com/2002/08/07.html#a108; comments are here.
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