In the last post, I talked about the significance of knowledge, and how, at times, it can be lost only to be re-discovered many years later. When examining various types of organizations, such as businesses, living forms, or cultural institutions, we consistently find roles associated with knowledge. As a result, I classify them into the following categories:
- The knowledge creator: This role represents the creative mind that has the ability to generate knowledge. Since knowledge is vital for the survival of an organization, this role becomes key and often one of the most challenging to find. However, introducing new knowledge can sometimes lead to a paradigm shift, initially causing several problems. As a result, knowledge creators can occasionally disrupt the established order.
- The knowledge keeper: This role is responsible for keeping the information alive and secure.
- The knowledge facilitator: This role is responsible for sharing knowledge with others. In other words, it communicates the knowledge in an optimal way.
- The knowledge practitioner: This role is responsible for applying the knowledge. What moves the world is the application of knowledge and not knowledge itself.
- The knowledge destroyer: The name is self-explanatory. The knowledge destroyer seeks to eradicate specific knowledge entirely because its existence is no longer desired.
- The knowledge stealer: The knowledge stealer could be confused with the knowledge creator, facilitator, keeper, or practitioner. However, this confusion will only persist briefly since this role lacks the capacity to fulfill any of those functions. Nonetheless, the knowledge stealer does have the potential to become a knowledge facilitator.
- The knowledge innovator: The knowledge innovator doesn’t create knowledge, but it develops the already existing knowledge. It can make it better or worse, but in the majority of cases, progress is made. The knowledge innovator could be seen as a subcategory of a knowledge creator.
Managers and the knowledge roles in a company
If we look at living organisms, we will see that in a body different specialized cells have these different roles. Animals have also these knowledge roles in their social organizations. From the business perspective, it is important to recognize which intrinsic knowledge role a worker is playing. And recognize if this role is making the company better or worse. This is one of the most important tasks that a manager has to do continuously.
One important skill for managers in a company is to recognize which kind of knowledge role the workers in the company are playing. Instinct or the so-called “gut feeling” will help the manager with this task. Other important points a manager has to have into account are:
- Expertise
- Personality traits
- Intrinsical motivation
- Work ethic
- Ethical principles
If you want to discuss the topic further, contact me at info@juancarlosps.com. I am glad to share my knowledge and experience with you.
Sources:
- Picture from www.pixabay.com
Juan Carlos
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