Knowledge and Self-Organization
by Verna Allee

from LEVERAGE, No. 7

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Knowledge has become a hot topic. Knowledge management, intellectual capital, and organizational learning are the focus of major conferences. These terms are puzzling, however, especially knowledge management. Why do we think we can "manage" anything as poorly understood as knowledge?

Knowledge is a moving target. It is constantly changing around products, services, processes, technology, roles, and relationships. No sooner do we think we have identified a pattern of knowledge than a new one appears. So if organizational intelligence is always changing, how do we organize to support knowledge?

Knowledge is too complex and fluid to be designed, processed, and managed from an old thinking perspective. Using systems thinking, we understand knowledge differently. Here are 12 qualities of knowledge.

1. Knowledge is messy. Every aspect of knowledge is connected to everything else. You cannot neatly isolate the "knowledge" component of anything. Organizational knowledge relates to culture, structures, technology, and the individuals that make up the organization. Knowledge also sits in the larger social context of the national and global "knowledge environment." No matter how you try to isolate knowledge, you find something else clinging to it.

2. Knowledge is self-organizing. Knowledge has a life of its own. It is self-organizing around group identity and purpose. Knowledge is created, sustained, killed, and renewed daily as purposes and values change.

3. Knowledge seeks community. Knowledge seeks community, as illustrated by the explosive growth of the Internet. Communities of knowledge are so powerful that they now involve people in conversation with each other all over the globe.

4. Knowledge travels on language. Without language, we cannot communicate what we know. Every mode of knowledge travels on a different language that initiates us into a particular world. For example, traditional management uses the language of statistical control, inspection, and balance sheets. One is not "initiated" into management without learning this language. Expanding knowledge means we expand the languages we use to describe our work experience.

5. Knowledge is slippery. The more you try to pin knowledge down, the more it slips away. It is tempting to try to tie it up as codified knowledge, documents, patents, intellectual property, libraries, and databases. Yet, too much rigidity and formality lead to the unwanted side effect of stifling creativity and new knowledge.

6. Knowledge likes looseness. Highly adaptable systems look sloppy. But the survival rate of diverse, decentralized systems is higher. This means we can waste resources and energy trying to control knowledge processes too tightly.

7. Knowledge experiments. There can be no final solution in knowledge management because patterns of knowledge are always changing. The best solution keeps things moving along while keeping options open and trying different approaches. The ongoing conversation about knowledge is much more important than coming up with right answers.

8. Knowledge does not grow forever—something eventually dies or is lost. Think how exhausting it would be to have only continual growth. Constant growth does not hold true in nature and it does not hold true for knowledge. Letting go of old ways of thinking, even retiring whole blocks of knowledge and expertise, contributes to the vitality and evolution of knowledge.

9. Knowledge is a social phenomenon. Only people together make knowledge happen. No one person can take responsibility for collective knowledge. Knowledge managers cannot manage knowledge itself. But they can manage processes for acquiring, creating, sharing, and applying knowledge and for removing barriers and creating a supporting culture.

10. Knowledge evolves organically. You cannot impose rules, systems, and processes on knowledge. Knowledge is self-organizing, so the important way you can advance it is to remove the barriers to self-organization. Knowledge will take care of itself in the right supporting environment. It is more valuable to see what is working well and devise ways to support and enhance the natural processes.

11. Knowledge is multi-modal. There is no silver bullet. No one magical leverage point or best practice will advance knowledge and expand intelligence. Knowledge must be supported at multiple levels and in various ways. Genuine solutions require a systems approach, careful thought, reflection, experimentation, and constant adjustment.

12. Knowledge is multi-dimensional. If an organization is concerned with ownership, then energy focuses on acquiring codified knowledge that can be protected with copyrights and patents. If people are concerned with knowledge sharing, then they emphasize communication flow and documentation. Concern with key knowledge competencies for the future leads to seeking more effective ways to create, adapt, and apply knowledge.

There are many ways that we can advance knowledge. The most successful strategies, however, first trust the natural qualities of knowledge. Trust and respect lead to knowledge strategies that are less manipulative, more organic, and more successful.

Verna Allee is president of Integral Performance Group. This article first appeared in Executive Excellence (January 1997) and is reprinted with permission.