Posted by Jay Reay on April 14, 1998 at 18:15:00:

In Reply to: Re: Information, Knowledge & Wisdom: Other Views Welcome posted by Yogesh Malhotra on April 11, 1998 at 15:28:24:

Yogesh, thanks for laying out this issue so clearly.

In the constructs you place as paragraph 3, might I offer the following thoughts?

"wisdom" per se may not have a place in the management of knowledge in a business context. "wisdom" is acquired, not as an element in a dynamic process of this kind, but as the realisation of a number of elemental components, of which "knowledge" is certainly one, but which will also include self-knowing, "understanding" situations, "empathy" with others, all of which in a spiritual context could be termed enlightenment, which I would not demean by inclusion into the business context (unless business becomes so fundamentally different in the future as to warrant this).

In the direct context of the management of business knowledge, I would wish to include other elements in the dynamic you chart. In practice, data, information (data in context) and knowledge (applied information plus...) are affected by other inputs, some external to the individual people in the KM matrix under consideration, others from within them. Outputs also have an effect upon the dynamic.

I see this expanded matrix as a dynamic in the shape of a spiral. In this posting I lay it out merely as interconnections in a matrix; the interactions between the elements may not come across as I see it typed out spatially now, because of my lack of competence in using this technology - perhaps I should post an HTML file? - so I will describe it as it appears on one of my seminar graphics - but a picture is worth a thousand words!

The elements on each line lead one to the other left to right, but not equally spaced apart; the first 2 elements on line 2 connect upwards to "knowledge" on line 1; "learning" on line1 connects downwards to information on line2; effective action, line3, connects to information line 2; intuitive action leads to understanding line3; effective action leads to understanding line4 - all lines spiral in tandem, interconnecting and threading together, looping out to gather in external inputs or create distinct outputs:

knowledge learning more knowledge

data info

understanding effective action

perception intuitive action understanding

I'm sorry if my lack of practical knowledge makes a sow's ear of this silk purse!

I would also like to differentiate between sentient knowledge (of which I believe the purely human attributes of understanding, intuition and inspirational connection are part) and informational knowledge (based on experience of the world, and data/info from external sources, which many animals display). This has resonance with the current "nature/nurture" debate joined by Steven Pinker among others.

Your thoughts on this meagre input are very useful as I try to make sense of all the "knowledge" about knowledge.

Jay

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Follow Ups:

• 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)

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