Transforming The Enterprise - 9

Conventional IT Is Just A Tool

The governing wisdom of IT is 'if the user cannot organize Knowledge work how can IT do so?' Correspondingly, since IT is just a tool and the user must self-organize work, IT systems for Knowledge work are user driven. For all practical purposes we are still plodding along in the bullock cart age shown by the image above. The load on the user makes it next to impossible to tame interactions for responding to the irrational nature of Knowledge application. All that the industry can do is struggle along and hope as detailed below:

• No change in the Conventional Wisdom:

              Only personnel can organize and drive interactions

                      Incentives are essential for sharing.

              A single process for conversations impossible

                      IT is today a passive tool for knowledge interactions.

• Knowledge work focus: fixes, not reality

         Fixes are a temporary solution.

• Hope for taming interactions:

              Education/Leaders will foster Openness

              Personnel will willingly self-organize to share

                      They will use IT to invest energy/time/volition/discipline.

    No Philosophy --> No Method --> Status Quo