This document discusses how collaborative and social technologies can help unlock tacit knowledge in organizations and better channel the collective strengths of knowledge workers. It notes that while these technologies show great potential, simply implementing them is not enough - organizations must also rethink traditional processes and ways of working to fully realize the benefits. Providing guidelines for focusing collaborative technologies on business opportunities can help organizations better harness tacit knowledge for creating future opportunities.

1. Providing
Knowledge
Workers
with
the
Means
and
Opportuni8es
to
really
Kick
Ass
Crea%ng
a
Step
Change
in
the
ability
to
Channel
the
Collec%ve
Strength
of
Knowledge
Workers
towards
Business
Opportuni%es
Summer
2011

2. Explicit
Knowledge
has
allowed
itself
to
be
managed
and
put
to
use.
Tacit
Knowledge
Management
by
contrast
has
been
mostly
elusive
EXPLICIT
KNOWLEDGE
IS
SIMPLE
2

3. Knowledge
Management
Approaches,
Tools,
Experience,
and
Success
have
un%l
now
hugely
favored
Explicit
Knowledge
(the
sort
of
Knowledge
that
can
be
captured,
codified,
and
made
available
in
a
structured
way)

4. Tapping
into
the
richness
of
Tacit
Knowledge
(the
Wealth
of
Knowledge
residing
in
people’s
heads)
by
contrast,
has
been
a
mostly
“analogue”,
real-­‐
%me
affair
relying
on
a
lot
on
person-­‐to-­‐person
interac%on

5. This
is
highly
undesirable
as
Tacit
Knowledge
is
the
sort
of
stuff
that
really
maQers
for
taking
things
further
and
person-­‐to-­‐person
interac%on
is
oRen
seriously
compromised
both
geographically
and
%me-­‐wise
Tacit
Knowledge
is
crucial
….
But
is
oRen
cumbersome
….
As
well
as
being
for
crea%ng
the
future
….
to
organize
for
….
isolated
in
structure

6. Fortunately
there
is
a
Perfect
Storm
raging,
a
storm
that
is
crea%ng
the
environment
in
which
Tacit
Knowledge
and
Knowledge
Workers
can
really
thrive
and
make
unprecedented
contribu%ons
THE
KNOWLEDGE
WORKER
REVOLUTION
6

7. Collabora%ve
and
Social
Technologies
have
entered
the
stage
and
have
given
some
truly
amazing
demonstra%ons
of
their
poten%al
Most
companies
have
challenges
this
side
of
geXng
elected
to
President
of
the
United
States
of
America

8. What’s
more,
Collabora%ve
and
Social
Technologies
have
become
extremely
accessible
and
affordable,
with
massively
rising
user
numbers
as
a
result
• MicrosoR
SharePoint
was
the
fastest
SoRware
roll
out
ever
• 4
out
of
5
Fortune
500
companies
use
SharePoint
• It
is
es%mated
that
1
out
of
5
Knowledge
Workers
uses
SharePoint
• There
are
numerous
other
suppliers
of
collabora%ve
technologies

9. They
are
also
the
stuff
Knowledge
Workers’
dreams
are
made
off
as
they
cut
through
geographies,
%me
zones
and
mee%ng
slots,
organiza%onal
boundaries,
archives,
and
hierarchical
levels
like
a
machete
through
buQer
“Analogue”
&
“Physical”
Process
Op8mized
Knowledge
Op8mized
• New
Resourcing
Configura%ons
• Ad-­‐Hoc
Issue
Resolu%on
• Focused
Change
Ini%a%ves
• Produc%vity
Enhancement
• ……..

10. On
top
of
that,
they
have
the
unique
ability
to
turn
knowledge
worker
interac%on
into
the
mother
of
all
knowledge
management
systems
simply
as
a
free
of
charge,
and
free
of
effort,
by-­‐product
Surveys
Tags
Microblogs
Documents
Reviews
Forums
Tweets
Discussions
MySites
Polls
Links
Comments
Wikis
Technology
Enabled
Knowledge
Intensive
ways
of
working
leave
trails
that
make
up
new
forms
of
Knowledge
“Management”,
Performance
Reviews,
Organiza%onal
Control,
and
a
host
of
other
benefits

11. What
is
more,
the
numbers
of
Knowledge
Workers
raised
in
a
technologically
enabled
world
is
steadily
on
the
rise
By
the
%me
they
are
21
each
digital
na%ve
will
have
seen
250,000
emails
and
instant
messages

12. Collabora%ve
and
Social
Technologies
sound
to
good
to
be
true
for
what
they
can
poten%ally
bring
to
Knowledge
Worker
rich
environments
–
and
they
are.
There
are
some
irky
hurdles
to
overcome
IT
IS
NOT
A
SILVER
BULLET
12

13. Most
organiza%ons
have
a
well
established
way
of
doing
things
–
the
tradi%onal
way
-­‐
made
up
of
ingrained
processes,
ways
of
working,
emails,
commiQees,
and
what
have
you
that
need
to
be
overcome
The
Corpora8on:
“the
maze
of
structures,
ways
of
working,
hierarchies,
and
other
hurdles
”
The
Internet:
“the
Greenfield
Heaven”

14. In
addi%on
to
that
–
it
is
not
enough
to
reconsider
how
much
faster
you
can
travel
using
new
collabora%ve
and
social
technologies,
you
need
to
really
rethink
the
route
you
are
taking
(Which
incidentally
requires
Tacit
Knowledge
to
be
able
to
see
the
beQer
route…)

15. Fortunately
there
are
a
number
of
tried
and
tested
recipes
for
taking
advantage
of
what
collabora%ve
and
social
technologies
can
mean
for
crea%ng
a
a
Step
Change
in
the
ability
to
Channel
the
Collec%ve
Strength
of
Knowledge
Workers
towards
Business
Opportuni%es
A
SIMPLE
RECIPY
15

16. Three
guidelines
to
consider
for
going
aRer
the
organiza%on’s
collec%ve
Knowledge
Worker
strength
3
>
Take
out
the
old
way
if
at
all
possible
2
>
Make
the
new
way
truly
beQer
and
desirable
1
>
Aim
for
something
truly
meaningful

17. Five
Lesson’s
Learnt
or
prerequisites
for
success
to
consider
for
going
aRer
the
organiza%on’s
collec%ve
Knowledge
Worker
strength
Purpose
Posi8ve
Purpose
People
process
Stakeholder
Prepara8on
Interest
&
Prac8ce
Ver8cal
Tools
&
Endorsement
Technologies