Posted by Yogesh Malhotra on April 01, 1998 at 17:06:03:

In Reply to: Performance Measure posted by Robbert Northolt on March 26, 1998 at 10:15:27:

You have posed an interesting query. However, making ???? a part of anyone's job seems to me déjà vu and reminds one of Taylorism that was based on making 'the right way' of doing 'the right thing' a part of everyone's job.

The key issues that one may need to address in devising any such measure of performance are as follows.

The debriefing exercises may beget pure data and 'smoke' instead of getting 'knowledge' or the underlying 'assumptions' if the incentives or rewards that are offered are unable to conquer the cultural barriers that inhibit knowledge flows. An increasing interest in seeking 'knowledge' of the employees for transplanting it [assuming if it is possible] in other employees or in the company's computer databases and expert systems would make the bearers of knowledge more aware of the 'double jeopardy' posed by such a situation. One may need to acknowledge that when referring to bearers of such value-adding knowledge, one is dealing with intellectual and 'knowledgeable' individuals who can see through the 'moral plea' of sharing one's knowledge for the 'universal good.'

The example of sports teams may provide some fodder for developing this line of thinking. [BTW there is very extensive research on intrinsic motivation as applied to sports and athletes.] Although, the various players may review previous game films and devise common strategies for the next game, however each of the players is a star in one's own right. Most such stars reap the rewards for 'exhibiting their best' within team / group situations. However, most of them retain the clout to 'change horses' and impact the prowess of their original team in that process. In that sense, they may be considered as 'intrapreneurs' or 'free agents' as I have referred elsewhere.

Also, based on the Competitive Intelligence principles, one may recall that there is information that is shared... and there is also misinformation and disinformation that may be shared [re: the bridge between the tacit knowledge and its explication...] How does one identify whatever is being shared as being 'true knowledge'?

Back to the notion of the performance measure... its definition will depend upon what the organization is trying to accomplish:

If the objective is to encourage sharing of knowledge... the questions that needs to be addressed in the process would include:

- why is there a need for sharing knowledge? what is it expected to accomplish?
- how does it relate to the overall organizational performance?
- what happens if knowledge [however measured] seems to be shared, but there is no affect on organizational performance?
- or, more interestingly, what happens if knowledge [however measured] is shared, and the performance tanks?
- how does one account for the confounding variables... that may impact the link between knowledge that is shared and the consequent impact on the individual / group / organizational performance?
- how does one account for temporal effects - what is shared today may become visible in performance a week from now or a year from now?

- if [assuming] knowledge sharing is made a part of anyone's job - how do you ensure that 'it' is being done - the definition of 'it' will depend upon what you define as 'knowledge,' by 'sharing,' and 'whatever good' you expect to happen as a result of the process.

• Yogesh Malhotra

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Follow Ups:

• CKO? Rizwan 13:45:03 10/16/98 (0)
• Re: How to Measure Knowledge Workers' Performance? John Ruiz 23:56:57 5/13/98 (1)
  • Re: How to Measure Knowledge Workers' Performance? George Angcos 15:33:43 5/26/98 (0)
• Tayloristic culture Robbert Northolt 03:23:53 4/02/98 (10)
  • Re: Tayloristic culture Jim McKinley 22:01:44 5/03/98 (0)
  • Tayloristic Culture and 'Art of the Long View' Yogesh Malhotra 23:34:50 4/04/98 (5)
    • Re: Tayloristic Culture and 'Art of the Long View' Robbert Northolt 08:07:10 4/08/98 (2)
      • Re: Tayloristic Culture and 'Art of the Long View' Yogesh Malhotra 18:42:29 4/08/98 (1)
        • Re: Tayloristic Culture and 'Art of the Long View' Robbert Northolt 07:08:30 4/09/98 (0)
    • Re: Tayloristic Culture and 'Art of the Long View' Jay Reay 20:11:44 4/05/98 (1)
      • Re: Tayloristic Culture and 'Art of the Long View' Yogesh Malhotra 13:20:38 4/09/98 (0)
  • Re: Tayloristic culture Jay Reay 20:11:48 4/04/98 (2)
    • Re: Tayloristic culture Robbert Northolt 08:01:00 4/08/98 (1)
      • Re: Tayloristic culture Jay Reay 22:52:27 4/08/98 (0)

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