I took advantage of a meeting with the company Meta4 (company oriented to provide technological solutions in the field of knowledge management, its main software is the Knownet), to corroborate my theory regarding the limit of knowledge.
I needed to share my thoughts with someone familiar with this discipline and immersed in organizations. I explained my conclusion in this regard using paper graphics that only Gabriela Perret, manager of Meta4 Argentina, and I understood. It is not in my interest to torture the reader with these complex graphics, so I will turn to another example a little clearer and with letters instead of doodles.
The future is what mobilizes the development of knowledge in companies, what there is to know and learn implies moving forward so as not to get stuck in the known, the evolution and value of intellectual capital depend on it. The known is constituted by the real knowledge that the organization has, the intellectual capital that it currently possesses materialized in market value, patents, procedures, know how, inventions, practices, culture, mission and the way of doing things in the present. This real knowledge can be implicit or explicit, the important thing is that that real knowledge is there.
What there is to know is endowed with potential knowledge. Potential knowledge is the set of knowledge that we can obtain in the future, and if it does, it will manifest itself in the balance sheets, the value of the shares, the market share, the increase in patents, etc.
Potential knowledge is the engine that moves the intellectual capital of companies, it is what makes them evolve so as not to continue reinventing the wheel.
In turn, potential knowledge is loaded with subjectivities and fantasies. To be sure of which potential knowledge to pursue, it is necessary to align it with the company's strategy and objectives. If the objective of a laboratory is to increase market share by 5%, it is useless to focus potential knowledge on gastronomy courses.
Corporate strategy plays an important role in this regard as it serves as a compass to guide the orientation that human resources give to potential knowledge. In the words of Stephen R. Covey: "For a sailboat without a port, any wind is good." It is also true that the compass is often given by emotional or psychological aspects that are more oriented to human characteristics motivated by desire.
The burning desire to obtain knowledge is a guideline indicating that it will be useful in the future to develop human capital in the first instance. Sometimes it is difficult to explain why you want to obtain the knowledge. It will be difficult to understand why the accounting manager is interested in learning graphology or why the marketing director wants to start studying piano.
We will not go into depth about psychological aspects that motivate desire, we are simply going to divide it into two planes, the personal and the professional.
The potential knowledge at the professional level is what brings us together. When we talk about emotional aspects that motivate knowledge, we refer to an internal compass that guides us through the instinct where we want to go.
The human resources of companies, people like you, like me, are innately programmed to go forward, we walk forward, we look forward, we want to grow, develop personally and professionally. Going forward is motivated by expectations. Expectations are the engine of progress.
The guardians of intellectual capital in organizations must give value to people's expectations since they are the key to potential knowledge. In all cases, the task is to align those expectations at the professional level and focus them on the gap set by the company's objectives and strategy. Your future and that of the organizations will depend on it.
Note
© Pablo L. Belly All rights reserved. This article may be redistributed, forwarded, copied, printed, or quoted as long as it does not modify its content and does not use it for commercial purposes. You must include this note, as well as the name of the company Belly Knowledge Management International and its author: Pablo L. Belly, the email [email protected] and the address www.bellykm.com
