Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

I forget the fundamental requirement of knowledge management. Maybe that was it.

I recently met a person who declared that she took great joy in formatting Microsoft Word documents. She loved they way she could align everything on the page and mis-align a few things in just the right places.

I had just met an expert in knowledge management.

This person knew how to organize information. This person knew how to organize and manage knowledge. Others would be able to find what they needed to do their jobs and simply make it through the day.

We have plenty of Microsoft Word documents where I work. That is one format. We have plenty of HTML files, and plenty of spreadsheets, and plenty of everything else.

We have no lack of knowledge.

The trouble we have is that we are we. We simply forget much of what we know, much of what we need, and when we need it.

That is the essence of knowledge management: put the knowledge where I can find it when I forget what I already know.

Of course I already know it. I created the Word or HTML or whatever file. And not only have I forgotten what I put in the file, I also forgot where I put it. I need persons who love to format things, organize things, and manage knowledge.