Knowledge Extraction in the Process of Its Creation
- Dr. Moria Levy
- Aug 31, 2000
- 2 min read
We consistently emphasize the various goals of knowledge management, including preserving knowledge within the organization, transforming it from a personal asset to an organizational asset, retrieving knowledge when needed to enable reuse, multiple use, and intelligent use, and sharing knowledge among company employees. All of these are crucial for advancing organizational goals and enhancing the methods used to achieve them. However, these goals involve managing existing knowledge—that which was created in the past and which we want to preserve and document for future use. There is an additional goal in knowledge management that is no less important: creating new knowledge.
New knowledge is created by combining three factors: existing knowledge, intelligence, and expertise, resulting in the creation of new knowledge.
KIEN: k + i + e => n. Existing knowledge(k), plus intelligence(i), plus expertise(e) leads to the creation of new knowledge(n)
The new knowledge created constitutes an asset for the organization, providing it with a competitive advantage, improving processes, and enabling better and more efficient goal achievement, among other benefits. Existing knowledge is a perishable product; it cannot be accumulated for long periods. The inventory must be renewed, expanded, and new knowledge created. Through knowledge sharing, ground is created for generating new, broader knowledge. It is essential to understand how knowledge is created and how individuals and organizations learn to utilize it effectively, integrating supporting processes that foster the creation of new knowledge tailored to the organization's nature and its employees. Managing existing knowledge provides a foundation for creating new knowledge, in some of the solutions we offer.
We will not address the ways to create new knowledge in this section. We will examine existing organizational processes at various levels - processes in which knowledge is produced but not managed, and therefore does not become an organizational asset:
Investigation/Lessons Learned: A process usually performed following reaching a milestone (for example, project completion or obtaining an order) or due to an unusual event. In this process, they try to create new knowledge based on accumulated data, while collecting, organizing, and analyzing it. The purpose of the investigation is to extract lessons for the future. We have already addressed this topic in previous issues; much work remains to be done.
Forums and Interest Groups: Initiated meetings on professional topics, aimed at enriching the group with the knowledge being discussed. Usually, this is not just about sharing and transferring knowledge, but a dynamic of discussion and exchange of opinions is created, based on the experiences of the meeting participants. The forum, originally intended only for knowledge sharing (an important goal in itself), becomes a meeting place for knowledge and the formation of new knowledge through the integration of existing knowledge.
There are, of course, other processes - each organization has its habits. It is recommended to identify existing processes, develop them, and manage them.
And don't forget the coffee corner...
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