Posted by Mezei on November 10, 1997 at 21:07:07:

Although I haven't run across this particular line of thinking on the web or amongst KM periodicals etc. I'm a bit surprised that more attention hasn't been focused on the meaning of the phrase 'knowledge management' itself, on solving the puzzle. Basically I've come to the conclusion that km is an oxymoron, that you can't define the phrase beyond this basic statement, at least in a conscise way, and what km really amounts to as a business application can be gleaned once we understand what this 'non-definition' definition really means.

As most of us know, an oxymoron (oxy=sharp/moros=dull from the Greek) refers to a paradoxical conjuntion of terms. Thus we are faced with the paradox of managing something as ubiquitous as knowledge itself. How this contradiction can be resolved is really the challenge of knowledge management, above and beyond, or perhaps underlying the more popular associations we make with the subject, ie IT, or intranets, or cultural practices etc. The problem is, what can we do to resolve the difficulty of managing knowledge?

A lot of practical work is being done in this field, albeit indirectly, towards resolving the dilemma. I refer to studies involving the alignment of the parasympathetic/sympathetic nervous systems, which focus attention on the heart and the electromagnetic frequency surounding it. Of resolving mind/body duality, or tacit/explicit duality brought to our attention by Nonaka/Takeuchi. The bottom line is, km begins with the individual and extends or permeats out throughout the company/organization. I think the focus on KM comes down to resolving duplicity within the individual first, which in turn leads to greater knowledge output, and the structures needed to harness that output.

Don Mezei

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Follow Ups:

• Re: why KM is an oxymoron Mike Barker 17:24:54 11/11/97 (1)
  • Re: why KM is an oxymoron Mezei 21:03:32 11/12/97 (0)
• Knowledge & managing Denham 09:47:27 11/11/97 (1)
  • Re: Knowledge & managing Mezei 20:42:55 11/12/97 (0)

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