Harvesting Knowledge

Abstract

If 80% of knowledge is unwritten and largely unspoken, we first need to elicit that before we can articulate, share, and make wider use of it. Knowledge harvesting is one way to draw out and package tacit knowledge to help others adapt, personalize, and apply it; build organizational capacity; and preserve institutional memory.

In a Word If 80% of knowledge is unwritten and largely unspoken, we first need to elicit that before we can articulate, share, and make wider use of it. Knowledge harvesting is one way to draw out and package tacit knowledge to help others adapt, personalize, and apply it; build organizational capacity; and preserve institutional memory.

The Know-Do Gap

The so-called know-do gap is one outcome of poor knowledge translation ¹ and organizational forgetting . In decreasing order of incidence, that is commonly attributed to (i) shortage of resources, e.g., skills, time, and finance, (ii) lack of buy-in at all levels within and across organizations, and (iii) information overload. Shortage of resources affects policy makers, researchers, and practitioners equally. Practitioners commonly think insufficient buy-in to be the greatest challenge.

Except when messages are complex, the three most desirable knowledge translation strategies advocated in response are stakeholder engagement, dedicated knowledge brokers, and effective communications (with commensurate recognition, support, and funding in all three cases). Sure enough, the “wisdom of the crowd” element in the three responses emphasizes the importance of paying due attention to the “who,” “what,” and “how” of knowledge translation.

It is indeed vital to get the right knowledge to the right people at the right time, and help them apply it, if we are to do something better everytime we do it again.² However, if 80% of knowledge resides in the minds of people, both as a thing and as a flow, it is now recognized, we first need to elicit that before we can articulate, share, and make use of it.³ (Certainly, in most fields of human endeavor, current levels of explicit knowledge only reveal a fraction of what must be known to produce results.)⁴

In the twenty-first century, intra-organizational flows of knowledge have become as important the resource itself.⁵ And so, managing both stocks and flows has become an imperative rather than an alternative for most organizations. Knowledge harvesting is a means⁶ to draw out, express, and package tacit knowledge to help others adapt, personalize, and apply it; build organizational capacity; and preserve institutional memory .⁷ In addition to context and complexity, the concepts that relate to it are tacit knowledge stocks , tacit knowledge flows , and enablers and inhibitors of tacit knowledge work.⁸

If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an idea, which an individual may exclusively possess as long as he keeps it to himself; but the moment it is divulged, it forces itself into the possession of every one, and the receiver cannot dispossess himself of it. Its peculiar character, too, is that no one possesses the less, because every other possesses the whole of it. He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me.

—Thomas Jefferson

Harvesting Knowledge …

Knowledge harvesting is not a catch-all solution. It hinges on trust and that is engendered by shared context .⁹ It cannot succeed in adversarial environments, where potential knowledge contributors think they will jeopardize their status or job security if they share their know-how. However, in learning organizations, it can be leveraged judiciously to codify some human expertise in such ways that others can make use of it, for instance during staff induction or through learning and development programs, good practices, and how-to guides.¹⁰ Numerous benefits can flow from enabling the movement of knowledge stocks between entities: (i) the knowledge of individuals (but also groups) is made available to who might need it independently of human memory, (ii) a wide range of solutions to organizational issues is produced, (iii) the ability to manage change is increased, (iv) the likelihood of repeated mistakes is reduced, (v) the learning curve of new personnel is shortened, (vi) precious knowledge is not lost when personnel leaves, and (vii) the tangible knowledge assets of the organization can be increased to create organizational value.

With care, knowledge harvesting can be applied to any field of human activity. In organizations, ready opportunities lie in operations, products, services, strategies, and even management. In association with other techniques for knowledge capture and storage , it might one day inform organization-wide Total Quality Management systems that deliberately elicit, organize, package, and share know-how. Several intra-organizational factors drive its design: the principal are (i) tacit knowledge enablers and inhibitors, (ii) the criticality of the knowledge to the organization, (iii) the need for immediate transfer , (iv) the complexity of the knowledge topic, (v) the qualities of knowledge contributors, (vi) the characteristics of knowledge seekers, (vii) the dispersion of knowledge contributors and knowledge seekers, (viii) the type of facilitation required, and (ix) the need for external review and validation.¹¹

… In Steps

Approaches to knowledge harvesting typically follow seven steps, the intricacies and resource requirements of which necessarily depend on the object and scale of the exercise:

• Focus It is impossible to collect and transmit everything that individuals know. An organization should determine what critical knowledge it wishes to connect more intimately with, and be clear about the benefits from that. Where does it expend the bulk of its resources? What does it need to do better or continue doing well to accomplish its objectives? What role does tacit knowledge play in helping it achieve that? It is crucial to focus: only individuals who are likely to contribute critical knowledge that can be profitably transferred can justify the investment of time and talent that knowledge harvesting requires. Obviously, an inseparable issue relates to the knowledge seekers: who are they, what are their specific needs, and how will they use the information generated? The organization can then harvest mindfully, with reuse and learning, and development in sight.

• Find Next, the organization should locate the critical positions where knowledge harvesting stands to generate most benefits, or where knowledge loss is the greatest threat, and identify and prioritize the know-how at risk. (Logically, this also calls for an examination of existing, useful documents.) Planning at this stage relates to identification and logistics. First, it should be understood that the holders of the critical knowledge are not necessarily the most senior. Second, some effort should be devoted to circumscribing their qualities and identifying gaps and overlaps with the knowledge of others. Relevant biodata information can be collated including languages and degrees of proficiency, education and training, countries of work experience, job descriptions, roles and responsibilities, details of work experience, etc.

• Elicit To elicit is to generate, obtain, or provoke a response or answer. Here, this entails effectively guiding a person through the process of expressing what he or she feels or knows about a particular topic or theme, preferably using one-on-one, face-to-face interviews supported by video and audio recording.¹² (In addition, transcribing the audio into text will enable tagging, distillation, and conversion to other formats, to name a few possible enhancements that will make the information more visible to and accessible by others.) Interviews can be structured, semi-structured, or (preferably) unstructured.¹³ They must be well-prepared. The lists of questions or topic and thematic guides developed should be shared in advance, aiming to provoke reflection and draw out details. Effective harvesting persuades participants to speak concretely, shun blame, temper judgment, and anchor assumptions in shared meaning. Some advocate a process under which the knowledge harvester conducts a preliminary interview with knowledge contributors, and then presents the results to representatives of the knowledge seekers. Gaps in what the latter need to know or in their understanding of what has been communicated can then inform a second interview. (Knowledge seekers have a natural, vested interest in the outcome of interviews and, presumably, a clear and practical understanding of what they want to know.) Cycling between knowledge contributors and seekers can promote a good fit between what is desired and what is imparted, propitious also to later brokering by the knowledge seekers. Of course, effective knowledge harvesters are a key to success: they must have strong communication, interpersonal, and interviewing skills coupled with high emotional intelligence.

• Organize The knowledge elicited must be examined for sense, recurrent patterns, as well as gaps and inconsistencies, and then arranged in coherent and systematic forms for ease of access. By and large, the materials can be ordered and structured into logical groups comprising signals that provide context, guidance that enhances action, and support information that develops understanding.

• Package After they have been organized, insights must be packaged into deliverable knowledge assets and made available through media that are tightly integrated with the original purpose of knowledge harvesting. Again, it is essential to consider knowledge seekers and their needs. What formats will best serve them? For effect, this stage must include individuals from other functions and disciplines, including methodology keepers, learning and development specialists, and marketing experts. The miscellaneous outcomes may include manuals, checklists, guidelines, collections of reminiscences on topics and themes,¹⁴ films, etc.

• Evaluate Based on feedback from knowledge seekers, and further enrichment from continual harvesting, the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability, and impact of outreach should be monitored and evaluated. Organizations should also consider the value of know-how over time: knowledge that is codified in static documents can quickly date.

• Adapt To adapt means to make fit for, or change to suit, a new purpose. As knowledge assets are shared and applied, new requirements will inevitably emerge. Organizations must facilitate, empower, and document instances of learning so that critical knowledge assets incessantly evolve.