Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/63913
Knowledge T The healthy exchange of ideas in the workplace. Not only do such exchanges create social and economic value for business; they also increase its capacity to collaborate effectively in learning partner- ships of all kinds, inside and outside the formal organization. For example, think of an organization as an ecosystem, a living organism. When all of its constituents perform in concert, sharing and coordinating their efforts to enhance the possibilities for all members and the organization as whole, the ecosystem thrives. Likewise, "knowledge ecology" is about studying and he emerging theory and practices of knowledge ecol- ogy are making 20th-century ideas of management and business obsolete. The hallmark of effective managers no longer rests on how well they control information, but how well they encourage the by George Pór enhancing the ways in which the parts of knowledge-generating systems relate to and coordinate with one another. It provides a framework for organizations that want to maximize their bene- fits from emerging technologies and encourage effective collab- oration among their members. Most managers today understand that Web-enabled communi- The theory of "knowledge ecology" supersedes old ideas of management and business. In a 21st-century economy, the measure of an organization's mettle is no longer the money in its coffers, but the in t e l l e c t of its members. cations have made their function of "information gatekeeping," in large part, obsolete. They even realize that people are their most important assets. Some of them also understand that what the members know is what makes or breaks their organizations. However, they also must take the next step, which is to recognize that knowledge is not a "thing" that can be "managed" like phys- ical assets. Rather, it is an organizational capacity produced by col- laborative relationships, which a manager must nurture. The core practice of knowledge ecology is the art of "knowl- potential of their members (previously known as "employees"). These types of managers hold a company back from developing the resilience and flexibility it needs to respond to rapidly chang- ing technologies and markets. And that will be the difference between a business that succeeds and one that struggles, or dies. Indeed, what must take the place of our "old shores" is a prac- edge gardening": that is, the seeding and feeding of healthy knowledge ecosystems. Nurturing an organization's knowledge ecosystem is both a key component of competent leadership and a strategic imperative for today's organizations. The First Steps To create a healthy knowledge ecosystem, we first must abandon many of the old concepts of "management" as we know it. As French novelist Andre Gide once said (as quoted in Bela Banathy's Guided Evolution of Society: A Systems View), "One does not dis- cover new land without consenting to lose sight of the old shore." Some managers still are guided by the old habits and process- es of command and control, rather than inspired by the full 30 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2001 tice more akin to shared learning, in which managers—who themselves become master learners, coordinators, and coaches— lead by example, and inspire and acknowledge contributions of knowledge from all who work with them. What a company knows is a strategic asset. However, it also can be a liability if it is not fostered by its leadership and mem- bers. We're living in a time when knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom have become the most powerful engines to generate social and economic value. Therefore, the vibrancy of a corpora- tion's knowledge ecosystem is a more reliable indicator of its future performance than the extent of its financial might. Money, for example, indicates only a corporation's past per- formance on the market. The vitality of its knowledge ecosystem, however, indicates its potential to meet rapidly evolving strategic challenges and opportunities. A company can have billions of dollars in the bank, but if that company is not in tune with the requirements of a knowledge-based economy, it's very likely that it will not survive. ILLUSTRATION: DIANE FENSTER