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"Knowledge can only be volunteered it cannot be conscripted. You can't make someone share their knowledge, because you can never measure if they have. You can measure information transfer or process compliance, but you can't determine if a senior partner has truly passed on all their experience or knowledge of a case. We only know what we know when we need to know it. Human knowledge is deeply contextual and requires stimulus for recall. Unlike computers we do not have a list-all function. Small verbal or nonverbal clues can provide those ah-ha moments when a memory or series of memories are suddenly recalled, in context to enable us to act. When we sleep on things we are engaged in a complex organic form of knowledge recall and creation; in contrast a computer would need to be rebooted. In the context of real need few people will withhold their knowledge. A genuine request for help is not often refused unless there is literally no time or a previous history of distrust. On the other hand ask people to codify all that they know in advance of a contextual enquiry and it will be refused (in practice its impossible anyway). Linking and connecting people is more important than storing their artifacts. Everything is fragmented. We evolved to handle unstructured fragmented fine granularity information objects, not highly structured documents. People will spend hours on the internet, or in casual conversation without any incentive or pressure. However creating and using structured documents requires considerably more effort and time. Our brains evolved to handle fragmented patterns not information. Tolerated failure imprints learning better than success. When my young son burnt his finger on a match he learnt more about the dangers of fire than any amount of parental instruction cold provide. All human cultures have developed forms that allow stories of failure to spread without attribution of blame. Avoidance of failure has greater evolutionary advantage than imitatio

Last year, we undertook a massive overhaul of the technology and approach we use for knowledge management, moving from a centrally managed, linear, taxonomy- and repository-based system to one that leverages the best of Web 2.0, including social software, user participation, and key market-driven concepts like sponsored links. We see this as a shift from "knowledge management" to "knowledge sharing."

Nancy Dixon focuses on the people side of knowledge management. Our most effective knowledge sharing tool is conversation. The words we choose, the questions we ask, and the metaphors we use to explain ourselves, are what determine our success in creating new knowledge, as well as sharing that knowledge with each other.

"Thought provoking atricle in summary: "Sharing knowledge is not about giving people something, or getting something from them. That is only valid for information sharing. Sharing knowledge occurs when people are genuinely interested in helping one another develop new capacities for action; it is about creating learning processes.""

Interesting read, but misses the 2 key factors: Lack of 'embedding knowledge sharing in the day to day business process instead of separate from it and the 'KM' title itself . If you have to explain it to a manager or engineer etc, you have a problem.

A blog about Knowledge Sharing

A Blog about Knowledge Sharing

A well researched and interesting presentation on the power of conversation in contextual knowledge sharing. From Lesley Thomson of the Scottish Centre for Regeneration.

This paper introduces Dervin's Sense-Making Methodology (SMM) as an approach to KM system design using Web2.0. SMM is a philosophically derived approach which allows knowledge management (KM) researchers and practitioners to more fully understand and listen to user's needs so as to inform the design of dialogic KM practices and systems to promote knowledge sharing.

Join the CGIAR, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the KM4Dev Community , the United Nations Children's Fund and the United Nations Development Programme in creating and growing this resource of knowledge sharing tools and methods. While these are applicable in a wide range of contexts, we hope that together we can help frame them in the context of international development with a focus on agriculture, fisheries, food and nutrition, forestry and sustainable development.

" Interesting write-up on Knowledge Board about the change in approach for IBM"

Link provided by Steve Robson of Lloyds Register. Paper references Wenger's CoPs as well as Blitz Games triage, featured at the KIN Knowledge Assets Roundtable on 22nd April.

An interesting article related to the KIN Webinar on 2nd July on 'The tension between Knowledge Sharing and Protecting IP'. The response from Mike Harvey  in the comments is particularly useful and pragmatic.

" link through Knwoledge Borard to article written by Richard McDermott and Carla O'Dell in 2001, contains some really useful insights"

"Explains how their' Collaborative forums' share knowledge and expertise to solve problems - creating inter-dependance on each other."

'Upon my soul you mustn't come into the place saying you want to know, you know' Perhaps an early example of the need for a knowledge sharing strategy?

" Connexions is a place to view and share educational material made of small knowledge chunks called modules that can be organized as courses, books, reports, etc. Anyone may view or contribute. This innovative cross-party collaboration site was kindly brought to our attention by Dan Ranta of ConcoPhillips"

Following last weeks KIN Roundtable on Knowledge Assets, Steve Robson of Lloyds Register has shared the following amazing digital docs (you will need Flash enabled on your computer).I can't imagine the development and effort that went into these.iPad optimised no doubt!

to demonstrate that shared or packaged knowledge has to be tailored to the need of the recipient, rather than the interests or viewpoint of the provider