Knowledge Management: A New Construct

Introduction

What if everything we think we know about knowledge management is wrong or incomplete? Dr. Dan Kirsch told a group of us attending his Certified Knowledge Manager course in February 2012 that there is no standard definition of knowledge management and that if you were to get a group of thirty knowledge managers in a room, you would get thirty different definitions of knowledge management. I have attended a few knowledge management courses and have found that most instructors indeed have their own tweaked definition for knowledge management. Even official sources such as the Business Dictionary and Merriam-Webster dictionaries cannot agree on a single definition.

Definitions

Data – factual information (such as measurements or statistics) used as a basis for reasoning, discussion, or calculation; information output by a sensing device or organ that includes both useful and irrelevant or redundant information and must be processed to be meaningful[1]

Information – the communication or reception of knowledge or intelligence; knowledge obtained from investigation, study, or instruction; intelligence, news, facts, data[2]

Knowledge – the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association; the fact or condition of being aware of something; the circumstance or condition of apprehending truth or fact through reasoning[3]

Knowledge Management

1.   Strategies and processes designed to identify, capture, structure, value, leverage, and share an organization’s intellectual assets to enhance its performance and competitiveness. It is based on two critical activities (1) capture and documentation of individual explicit and tacit knowledge, and (2) its dissemination within the organization.[4]

2.   Knowledge Management involves the people, culture, content, processes, and enabling technologies necessary to capture, manage, share, and find information.[5]

3.   “There is no ‘standard’ definition of Knowledge, or even of Knowledge Management (KM)”[6]

Current State of Knowledge Management

           The current state of knowledge management seems to be a very relaxed, fit to your own needs structure. There is no international standard, although the International Standards Board is now reviewing a possible structure. Each business and consulting company modifies knowledge management to fit their needs. Without a single definition to link it all together, it is impossible to have a unified structure. There are so many definitions of knowledge that it is difficult to pin down exactly what it is. 

           The construct many Knowledge Managers know and rely upon is the Data-Information-Knowledge-Wisdom (DIKW) hierarchy. This hierarchy, often depicted as a pyramid, shows the data level much larger than the wisdom level, implying there is much more data than wisdom. Some constructs leave the “Wisdom” tier off completely, making a Data-Information-Knowledge Pyramid, implying that knowledge and wisdom are equals. 

Figure 1: The Data-Information-Knowledge Pyramid [7]

The major focus of Knowledge Management is obtaining use out of the tacit information people have in their heads especially with the “Baby Boomer” generation hitting retirement age. It would hurt many businesses to have so many older workers retire without leaving their knowledge legacy at their company. This is an extremely important facet of Knowledge Management that needs to remain a part of KM.

Theory

Knowledge is information used for a specific purpose. In other words, knowledge is information used to make decisions. My premise is that the natural state of knowledge is information much like the natural state of matter is solid. Knowledge that is used in a decision returns to being information once the decision has been made and action begun.

This theory changes Data-Information-Knowledge Pyramid. The lowest level remains “Data” and the second level remains “Information” but expands in size. The “Knowledge” level shrinks into one tiny level called “Decision.” This could also be viewed as a line graph with a single arrow from Data to Information and a double-headed arrow between Information and Decision. Knowledge is the overall title of the graph or pyramid. The reason the “Decision” level is so small relative the other levels is that particular level of information has a shelf life before reverting to “Information.” Information that rises to the “Decision” level is only at that level until a decision is made and action begun. Then that knowledge reverts to “Information” until called upon again. The overall measurement unit is called knowledge in this construct.

Data --> Information <----> Decision

Figure 2: Frobe's DID (or Knowledge) Pyramid

States of Knowledge

           There are three basic states of Knowledge, much like states of matter. In science class, we all learned about the states of matter being solid, liquid, and gas. When you apply heat, matter moves from solid to liquid and from liquid to gas. In this knowledge management theory, there are three states of knowledge: data, information, and decision. Through the application of analysis knowledge moves from simple data to information. Applying more analysis leads information to decision and action. Once a decision has been made, knowledge reverts to information.

           To complicate this a bit more, Knowledge may exist as explicit data, implicit information, and decision simultaneously. Example, everyone knows there is a switch on the wall (explicit data). The electrician knows the switch turns on the lights but hasn’t codified it yet (implicit information). The electrician decides to turn on the lights (decision). Once the electrician codifies that knowledge that the switch on the wall turns on the lights, it becomes explicit information available to everyone. 

Natural State of Knowledge

           Knowledge reverting to information after a decision has been made, makes “Information” the natural state of knowledge. Knowledge moves to the decision stage only until a decision’s been made. The length of time is highly dependent upon the person or people involved in making the decision. Once the decision has been made, the knowledge reverts to its natural information form.

Conclusion

If knowledge and matter exist in the same way, then we should be able to use scientific methods to describe, measure, and use knowledge. 

In nature, matter has three basic forms: solid, liquid, and gas. Applying heat changes the form of matter from solid to liquid, then to gas. Removing heat moves matter in the opposite direction. In like fashion, applying analysis to data turns knowledge into information and applying more analysis temporarily turns information into decision before it reverts back to its natural state of information.

Data moves to information as a one-way transfer by the application of analysis. Once something is information, it cannot revert to data. Applying more analysis to information turns it into knowledge and decision for a brief time before it reverts back to information. In other words, knowledge doesn’t remain as knowledge, it has a shelf live or expiration date. Once that time hits, it reverts back to information.

In the final analysis then, Knowledge is the spectrum of information moving from data form to information form and then to decision through the application of analysis. The natural state of knowledge is information and decision knowledge will revert to information knowledge upon completion of the decision.

About the Author

William Frobe is a retired Army Major, currently working as a Knowledge Manager for the Asymmetric Warfare Group at Fort Meade, MD. Previously he served as the Executive Officer to the Chief Information Officer at the U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence at Fort Huachuca, AZ. He has a Master of Science in Telecommunications, a Master of Arts in Human Resources Management, a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, and an Associate of Applied Science in Business Management.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of anyone else or any organization.

[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/data

[2] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/information

[3] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/knowledge

[4] http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/knowledge-management.html

[5] http://www.kminstitute.org/blog/knowledge-management-2017

[6] KMPro Certified Knowledge Manager course materials, 2012

[7] http://www.knowledge-management-tools.net/images/knowledge_pyramid.png