Knowledge Management & Risk Management - Two Sides of One Coin
- Sep 4, 2016
- 2 min read
In 2009, I was leading a company-wide Knowledge Management (KM) program for a global, civil engineering and consulting firm. During that time, I became increasingly aware of how dependent successful KM is on basic, long-standing business management best practices. Things like good performance metrics, experienced managers and a culture which supports process discipline are essential underpinnings for any successful KM initiative or system.
As these thoughts began to crystallize for me, I wrote an article titled Ignorance Management which was published in Business Information Review Journal (BIR). The article encourages companies to switch from thinking about knowledge management as a stand-alone initiative to investing in uncovering pockets of ignorance among their management team. With with permission from BIR, I've re-published the article here.
This insight was an early precursor to work that we have continued on with since. Spencer and I realized early on in our relationship that although he was focused on risk management and security and I was focused on innovation and knowledge sharing, that many of the building blocks to successful initiatives in either direction were identical. We started to break down the false dichotomy that pits risk management against opportunity exploitation. In point of fact they are intimate partners and doing either discipline well means fully understanding each in the context of the other.
Technology changes so fast and in so many different directions that its very difficult to have an accurate understanding of what a piece of software does or doesn't do, or how a device achieves what the sales person promises it will. Accordingly a company hires technologists to handle these things, from our e-mail systems to our security systems. But managing teams of technologists is incredibly tricky as you can't simply take their word for it that everything is OK. In order to take full advantage of the software's capabilities, you've got to develop an intimate understanding of it's limitations and the associated risks at a fairly granular level.
In today's age, the entire employee base has got to delve into what the technologists are doing enough to be able to draw straight lines between their daily activities and the value that the technology they oversee should be bringing to your company's bottom line. But taking a hands off approach and letting go of insisting that you understand what your IT team and/or your employees do or of evaluating their results through reviews and audits in the name of fostering a "culture of trust" is 180 degrees from wrong.
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