Posted by Ann Feeney on May 08, 2000 at 08:07:31:

In Reply to: KM Principles - feedback please posted by Jez Goldstone on April 27, 2000 at 04:51:47:

I've been working on this for a while: a voluntary "Sharing Of Information and Knowledge Act" for individuals or organizations to consider as an operating principle. It's a cross between the Cluetrain Manifesto and the Freedom of Information Act.

Some of the ideas overlap very closely with Jez's, so I thought I'd share it here.

I'm trying to keep a balance between lightness and seriousness, so the name SOIKA, is deliberately a bit silly.

___________________________________________
Sharing
Of
Information
and
Knowledge
ACT

We recognize that:

Every staff member and volunteer in the Y movement possesses some kind of invaluable information and knowledge.
Knowledge is capacity rather than power, and so is augmented, rather than diminished, when shared.
When knowledge is collected and transmitted, it is an investment in time and effort that will pay for itself in later operations and interactions.
In short:

Sharing information and knowledge benefits the Y movement, advances its mission, and exemplifies the core values.

[Note: the YMCA has set up what they call the "core values," caring, honesty, respect, and responsibility, and this section shows how they tie in.]

Caring: Considering yourself part of a larger group and making yourself a factor in the whole group's success.

Honesty: Sharing what you know.

Respect: Valuing the time and energy of others and doing what you can to make their work easier.

Responsibility: Valuing your knowledge and information and using them for the benefit of all.

Therefore:

We will create the culture and provide the tools that promote knowledge sharing and learning.

We will identify the sources of knowledge in our organization.

We will provide the time and the resources to collect the knowledge that can be captured in an external format (e.g. documents, videos of training, Q&A sheets), and encourage the transfer of implicit knowledge through mentoring, meetings, and other formal and informal training and demonstration.

We will use the best means available for these collections and for their continued availability and dissemination.

We will make a regular commitment of time and resources to keep these collections up to date and continually improving.

We will make these collections available to every staff member and volunteer, regardless of part-time or full-time status and support or management level.

We will take advantage of the assets of any existing "old boy networks" or cliques, using them instead to promote open sharing with everyone.

We will use an "open books" basis rather than a "need to know" basis, except when open sharing would violate confidentiality or security.

Every project or undertaking will involve a knowledge-gathering stage and a knowledge-sharing/lessons learned stage.

We will make knowledge sharing and learning parts of the basic job expectations for every staff member and volunteer, and will provide everybody with the time needed to share and to learn.

We will reward people who share knowledge, in a manner that encourages quality rather than sheer quantity.

We will allow, whenever possible, for different methods of communication and learning, in order to accommodate different learning and communication styles.

We will recognize that occasional failure is the inevitable price for experimentation and the process of finding improvements, and encourage the sharing of lessons learned from failures as much as from success.

We will be proactive in sharing our knowledge within the Y movement as well as within our Y.

---

Follow Ups:

• Re: KM Principles - feedback please Robert Benjamin 01:22:05 05/10/00 (0)

---

Click Here to Post Follow Up in New Forums

    Knowledge Management Think Tank (New)

  

 Subject: 

Message: