Posted by Yogesh Malhotra on April 09, 1998 at 13:16:34:

[ This thread is a continuation of the following discussion:

Re: Tayloristic Culture and 'Art of the Long View'

http://www.brint.com/wwwboard/ messages/1826.html ]

Jay & Robbert,

Thank you Jay for the concise milestone of issues on this thread.

Just for the sake of 'dialog' - "change" is a given and hence is of interest. How it affects various individuals may depend upon the adaptability of different individuals and thus, different individuals, may view "change" as good or bad depending upon how change impacts them and how they impact change. [In other words, 'change' may pose adversity, but it simultaneously presents the potential for creating new opportunities by reframing one's thinking.]

Wisdom seems to be a more complex construct than information and knowledge. Jay, here is another attempt at distinguishing between the three:

Information (Entity): Processed data. Data arranged in a given context to provide a specific solution to a specific pre-defined problem. Raw material for knowledge creation.

Knowledge / Knowing / Knowledge Creation (Process): Using information for creating [potential for] action. Knowing relates to doing which relates to performance. Hence, the need to understand the link between information, knowledge, action and adaptation.

Wisdom (Continuous Dynamic Process): The interpretively flexible summation (process) of cognition, affect and action (experience) that is based on prior experience and serves as the bases for future action(s).

How do organizations tap the knowledge of the individuals?

[Here I am thinking loudly ;-) Related question: besides individual level knowledge, there is group knowledge and organizational knowledge. If knowledge is defined by the context, the same individual in diverse groups (contexts) may offer diverse emphasis on knowledge... examples of contexts could be professions, vocations, jobs, families, community, or any other social collective that provides potential for individual to think and act toward personal, group or societal goals.]

Sharing of Information: Various views of data in various pre-defined contexts. Generally, for providing pre-defined solutions to pre-defined problems. Strongest role of information technologies for archiving and linking the various individual, group and organizational level entities.

Sharing of knowledge: Developing the potential for future action based on past experience (knowledge base) and based on diverse views of the problems, the corresponding solutions and the related actions.

Sharing of wisdom: Developing a collective, self-adaptive capability of the organization 'to anticipate surprise' and to devise new actions, knowledge and information artifacts based on existing data / information seasoned by a healthy dose of imagination, innovation and creativity. This end of the spectrum is still more focused on the human end.

Jay, you have raised a very insightful point about the notion of legacy.

>My clients accept the need to bite the bullet even though they know this will be painful (for >them personally), because every entrepreneur > owner/manager > top executive reaches a
>point in their personal careers at which they come to the uncomfortable conclusion that what >they have created will or should continue beyond their business life, if it is worth anything at >all, and the best legacy they can leave is to enable their proteges to use their knowledge.

I tend to think that the issue of legacy, and the related issue of succession and organizational knowledge / wisdom are equally relevant for small, medium and large enterprises. We are familiar with the issues of succession that had major organization- and industry-wide implications. History of mega-organizations such as GM, Chrysler, American Express and AT&T lends some credence to this assertion. We are also familiar with the 'knowledge age' that has ushered in the era of new technology startups that often evolve very fast through the small > middle > large sequence. We are also observing the rise of the business ecosystems, organization megaliths based on mergers / consolidations, 'informal' virtual communities of practice and free agents. Also, as noted in one of the earlier discussions, the greatest challenge for most established organizations would be apparently posed by the new startups.

(Gary Hamel suggested at the Academy '97 conference that 70% of the competitors facing such firms will be new startups. John Seely Brown shared at an INFORMS conference that while making huge strides in its growth, Xerox is always on the lookout for the next 'bunch of kids in the garage' who may redefine the paradigm [in this case] of document management.)

Based on the above observations, one may conjecture that we may see the issues of information, knowledge and wisdom as having implications for all sizes of firms. The lean new startups, who are able to leverage the powers of information, knowledge and wisdom collectives may end up surpassing the growth rates of the mega-organizations.

Looking at history may perhaps provide some tentative evidence.

Era of technology ('the big iron'):

How long did it take IBM (or GM) to reach its supremacy?

Era of information:

How long did it take Microsoft to reach its supremacy?

Era of knowledge:

How long did it take Netscape to ascend from a non-entity?

Era of wisdom ;-):

???? (Nominations Invited)

Given the increasing, faster and discontinuous pace of change, organizations that are able to create breakthrough innovations based on questioning the 'way things have always been done' would apparently be the stars of tomorrow. Of course, there will always be potential for 'not invented here but I did it anyway' ...or better still, 'not invented here but I did it anyway and did it better than those who created the gizmo.' (Recap: focus on effective, creative and innovative utilization of information technologies and information artifacts... the keyword is 'effective utilization'...)

Regards,

Yogesh

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Follow Ups:

• Re: Information, Knowledge & Wisdom: Other Views Welcome Yogesh Malhotra 15:28:24 4/11/98 (5)
  • Re: Information, Knowledge & Wisdom: addition to constructs Jay Reay 18:15:00 4/14/98 (4)
    • Re: Information, Knowledge & Wisdom: addition to constructs John Tieso 14:45:53 7/13/98 (0)
    • Wisdom & Enlightenment in Knowledge Management? Yogesh Malhotra 17:51:10 4/17/98 (2)
      • Re: Wisdom & Enlightenment in Knowledge Management? Charlie Jackson 09:51:02 5/05/98 (1)
        • Re: Wisdom & Enlightenment in Knowledge Management? Bruce Gold 15:06:56 10/05/98 (0)
• Re: Information, Knowledge & Wisdom: Whose Concerns? Clive Flory 21:46:23 4/10/98 (3)
  • Re: Information, Knowledge & Wisdom: Whose Concerns? jaz_74 17:25:07 11/30/98 (0)
  • Re: Information, Knowledge & Wisdom: Whose Concerns? Bruce Gold 12:49:34 10/06/98 (0)
  • Re: Information, Knowledge & Wisdom: Whose Concerns? Bruce Gold 15:32:06 10/05/98 (0)

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