Posted by Prac on November 05, 2002 at 11:22:02:

In Reply to: KM in organizations vs communities posted by Gautam Ghosh on November 05, 2002 at 03:57:11:

Hi Gautam

A very interesting reply indeed. You have given me a lot of food for thought, by saying "..In my view, organizations are not natural systems.."

The idea of self-organizing, or natural, systems in all complex systems, such as organisations of any nature, has been mentioned over time. It does lend itself to chaos systems theory.

In view of your position on this, how could we ever expect natural entities, such as humans, to ever exist and prosper in organisations?

Maybe non-commercial organisations do not require formal KM systems, but one would definitely be able to identify a KM system within any people system if we should want to.

The reason why Al Qa'eda is being mentioned is that it seems to have such immense power to influence the world. It could sow chaos at the touch of a button. Th world is still trying to regain its collective balance after more than a year, but our path seems to have been altered in very much the same way as it would when a meteorite would collide with a planet.

Greenpeace on the other hand, although a very motivated organisation, had to become increasingly militant to serve its organisational goals. It takes incredible capability to scale the walls of nuclear platforms at sea, or seaside plants, given the usual levels of security around such installations. Yes, they are just about stopping short at destructive force, but the French government did not think so when they has the Rainbow Warrior sunk in French waters. And even Greenpeace would be very dependent on knowledge to achieve what it does.

So why not Al Qa'eda? We know such influential organisations have incredible knowledge needs. We could learn a lot from this if we should choose to.

We could perhaps learn that unless we all pull together in commercial organisations, and cut to the chase, and remove the petty politics, then w are not going to thrive as a natural, self-organising system. We should definitely learn that people, not computers, make the real impact in markets.

Instead of buying the next, hot product of the IT bench, pay your people more for their positive contributions. Not all would probably appreciate it, but those who play a glueing role in the organisation would definitely apprciate it, especially if their contributions are being recognised and rewarded.

Another thought, instead of going through yet another, bloody, right-sizing exercise, launch new cells of the organisation. Apply genetic theory to organisational development, and let the organisation improve its reach.

regards,

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