Networking

In my last post I wrote about how important the interaction between people is to share and create knowledge. I want to discuss this interaction in more depth because it is exactly what organisations need to improve in order to achieve superior levels of productivity. Networking is the name of the game, and by that I don’t mean the kind of society small-talk in elite business clubs, which many people associate with this term. I understand networking as the interactive process of people exchanging information and knowledge. In this sense it is a very natural activity that we all engage in … only maybe not enough, or not in the most efficient ways, or not in the right situations, or not with the right people. 

Everyone has networks. They are made up of the connections and relationships we have with relatives, friends and colleagues and in extension with their friends, etc. The networks of organisations consist of the combined networks of the individual people in the organisation and span across teams, functions and divisions. Naturally, they also cross organisational boundaries and include business partners, suppliers, customers, investors, interest groups, communities and any other firms. It’s hard to imagine the sheer size and diversity of the combined extended networks of all individuals in an organisation.

But it is rather obvious that these networks hold huge potentials for organisations. People across these networks hold different pieces of information and knowledge. Bringing the right people together for different tasks and problems should be one of the main concerns for organisations of any type. Looking at it like this makes networking a central method of organising work. I think it sounds pretty reasonable to suggest that the people with the most relevant information and knowledge for a particular task should be the ones working on it together. However, the reality in many organisations looks different. Rigid structures and limited interaction too often result in the allocation of tasks to single individuals who might not be equipped with the necessary knowledge. Without adequate means to find and consult experts with the right kind of information and knowledge, how do you expect these people to do a good job?

Information Technology (IT) provides platforms and channels for individuals do engage in networking. Some IT, like telephones, fax or emails, have been around for a long time and have helped organisations to improve their interactive operations. But it’s the newly-emerged internet-based collaborative services that offer the potential to raise networked productivity to a whole new level. These enable us to connect more people, more directly and more efficiently than ever before. What kind of such services there are and how they can be put to best use in which situations will be the topic of many following posts. Important to point out right away, however, is that no technology causes people to interact with each other automatically. Technology is a powerful enabler, but networking will always have to be done by people. Encouraging and managing the networking activities between individuals is the real challenge. It requires organisations to rethink some of its more traditional structures and principles. It requires the cultivation of a supportive culture within the organisation and a guided learning process. Again, issues that will be discussed in this blog.

I hope I could transmit the idea of a networked organisation along with its benefits of flexibility, agility, adaptability and productivity.

Knowledge

Most, if not all the ideas under the heading connect & collaborate have something to do with knowledge. It is really what this is all about. They say we are in the knowledge economy now, and that knowledge, or better the people who carry it, have become the most valuable resource of modern organisations. I happen to think ‘they’ are absolutely right. So I might as well start this blog by putting down some thoughts on the subject of knowledge. Unfortunately, it is a rather difficult concept to grasp. Numerous scholars have dedicated their careers to studying the nature of knowledge, its creation and possible ways of sharing and transferring it. In this blog I really want to refrain from referencing a lot of academics, no matter how inspiring their writings have been to me. Instead, I will try to be as practical and simple as possible in the discussion of these topics.

Coming back to knowledge, there is an important distinction to make between information and knowledge. Information (aka explicit knowledge) is codified, meaning that it is easy to communicate and to share. You might be able to write it down, store it and send it to someone. 

Knowledge (aka tacit knowledge), on the other hand, resides deep inside of individuals and cannot be easily communicated or explained. Think of it as ‘understanding’ or just ‘knowing’, for example how to ride a bike. If our knowledge is an iceberg, information is only the small tip that becomes visible above the water.

Now of course information is important to us. It’s the stuff that we store in databases and send around via e-mails or virtual networks. But it is our deeper knowledge, which enables us to make sense of this information and to put it to productive use. One doesn’t work without the other, and the way they play together is the really interesting story:

When people interact with each other, a lot of exchange and transformation goes on. Information is exchanged; knowledge can be converted into information and passed on; and using new information in novel ways creates new knowledge. It is through this interactive process that people and, in extension, organizations are learning. This ‘learning’ is what organisations should be really interested in – this is where new knowledge is created to fuel innovation processes and to make work more efficient and productive.