Sunday, June 3, 2007

The Search For Magic

It is a relief when years into an odyssey one comes across an identity of views with a leading light. I quote here the view expressed by Tom Davenport in his blog on March 21, 2007:

"Most of the barriers that prevent knowledge from flowing freely in organizations – power differentials, lack of trust, missing incentives, unsupportive cultures, and the general busyness of employees today – won't be addressed or substantially changed by technology alone. For a set of technologies to bring about such changes, they would have to be truly magical, and Enterprise 2.0 tools fall short of magic."

Magical delivery demands an integrating process. Email is a tool for business exchange but a process for personal communication. Tools must be supported by skills, organization, discipline, culture, and energy for universal adoption and consistent delivery. This imposition on personnel by tools quickly dispels their claim to magic. A successful IT process organizes, anticipates and drives 24x7, and, as in case of email, can induce culture. IT alone cannot anticipate to drive knowledge processes since personnel themselves do not know the next step in advance.

The science I have established for driving the flow of knowledge is based on the evolution of teamwork. It creates a compelling natural language for the daily conduct of interactions personnel must engage in for performing their work. Like email for personal communication, it assures its own adoption for all business communication. Free flow of knowledge is a by-product.