The Connection Between Wine Path, Food Path, and Creating a Culture of Sharing

Culture is one of the four key layers that comprise and build knowledge management within an organization. In every organization where a knowledge management process is implemented, it involves transitioning from knowing to managing knowledge, primarily to share existing knowledge within the organization, where, in most cases, knowledge is managed in one way or another. Knowledge sharing strongly depends on organizational culture – does the organizational culture encourage sharing, or does it foster competition and hinder the sharing of knowledge?

Some organizations encourage knowledge sharing within the organizational subunit to which an employee belongs, on the one hand, and competition and non-sharing of knowledge between organizational subunits, on the other. There are organizations whose organizational culture encourages only competitiveness and the non-sharing of knowledge throughout all branches of the organization.

In the October 2003 issue, we examined the factors and barriers that employees face on the path to knowledge sharing within the organization and what measures can be taken to neutralize these factors and strengthen the knowledge-sharing culture. However, as is known, cultural change is not a simple process and includes changing patterns of thinking and behavior that have been ingrained for years among organization employees and managers. Sometimes, direct and indirect means, such as those mentioned in the article, which are designed to encourage a culture of knowledge sharing, are insufficient to create the desired change.

So what do we do?

We can try to complement conventional direct methods with indirect methods, finding a creative way to foster a desire for knowledge sharing among employees through a personal, human layer rather than a professional one.

How can we do this?

By finding an area of interest unrelated to the organization's role or essence, and creating meetings designed for enrichment and shared learning in the chosen field. The meetings will include lectures, the exchange of opinions, learning, and sharing games in the chosen field, such as the wine path, food path, world journey (learning about cities around the world), health and fitness, and more.

In this way, with a minimal investment of resources from the organization, significant cultural benefits can be achieved. Through engagement with something different, fascinating, and interesting, closer friendships and trust relationships develop between employees, and barriers that prevent employees from sharing knowledge are lowered. Employees learn the advantages inherent in sharing knowledge on the chosen topic and experience the sharing experience, through which the culture of sharing will be instilled and will also permeate the professional issues important to the organization.

The wine path is already being implemented in one factory in the country, thanks to Guy, the knowledge manager, who conceived, implemented, and shared it.

If you also have an idea for strengthening and creating an organizational sharing culture, share it with us, and we will share it with the rest of our readers.

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