Why it is Critical Encourage Contributions to Your Knowledge Base

A significant barrier to many knowledge management programs is the perception people have to what knowledge is. Many people view knowledge as some pristine thing that flows only from the minds of experts, only useful after it has undergone a battery of reviews by other experts. This view is limiting and it is absolutely critical to evolving this view if your km program is to thrive.

Knowledge is information upon which I can act. Knowledge has action associated with it; we can do something with it.

-The Attributes of Knowledge, KCS V6

Firstly the “pristine perspective” restricts the contribution of insight to the knowledge base to only those selected few that have been identified as experts. Perception is not often reality and the genius of people effectively solving problems for customers every day often goes unaccounted for when acknowledge expertise is the standard. The unfortunate outcome of this strategy is that the perspective and completeness of reusable knowledge is diminished. This will lead to users of the knowledge base feeling that the content is not practical and does not sufficiently solve the “real” problems they are facing.

“Knowledge is justified, True belief”