Knowledge sharing culture

Have you ever worked at a company where you felt your peers are not sharing certain work related knowledge with you? I personally have. Does the employee have the ethical responsibility of sharing knowledge with his/her co-workers? How much information an organization can make available to its employees? Do employees have the right to hold knowledge they think is gained through their own individual efforts?

How can we define knowledge sharing? David Gurteen on his site, The Gurteen Knowledge Website, defines knowledge management and knowledge sharing as “Knowledge Management is a business philosophy. It is an emerging set of principles; processes, organisational structures, and technology applications that help people share and leverage their knowledge to meet their business objectives.”

What will motivate people to share knowledge? Many workers feel their competitive advantage lies on the knowledge they possess, why would they share it?
Again back to David Gurteen article, “The real answer is to help people see for themselves that knowledge sharing is in their personal interest. The old paradigm was “knowledge is power”. Today it needs to be explicitly understood that “sharing knowledge is power”. If people understand that sharing their knowledge helps them do their jobs more effectively; helps them retain their jobs; helps them in their personal development and career progression; rewards them for getting things done (not for blind sharing); and brings more personal recognition, then knowledge sharing will become a reality.”

I personally believe that in today’s knowledge based economy and the internet being at the forefront of this economy, knowledge is still means “power”, but this power is not confined to the few, but it’s available to those who are willing to dig for it.