What is knowledge management? A courtroom analogy

Some of my clients have shown confusion with regard to what Knowledge Management is. So, I use the courtroom as the analogy to explain it.

In the courtroom, the lawyer presents material in the form of papers, records, witness accounts, finger prints, and other items related to the crime, etc. These are the evidence. Most project or business work tasks have a similar compilation of evidence. In fact, in one company, we created the term “evidence book” to highlight the idea.

In the courtroom, the lawyer weaves a story around the evidence suggesting what happened, and possibly why. The stenographer captures every word assuring that the entire “story” is recorded and can be recalled at any time.

So, in the courtroom, knowledge management = evidence + “the story”

To be effective, the evidence and the story must exist together as an integrated record.

The evidence is virtually meaningless without the story. If the story is not captured, any future activity will have to try to recount the events, generally resulting in something very different.

In business, knowledge management = business record and documents + the story

If a business stores its evidence (business record and documents), but cannot relate what it does with the evidence, the impact will show up in lower quality in its product.

If the business does not store its evidence, and has no story, it is definitely in trouble.

Consider the result of a business with good evidence and a full story, fighting it out in a courtroom with another company with uncontrolled evidence and no way to recall the story. I know who I would bet on.

(Also from the courtroom), businesses can spend huge amounts of money if they are called to court and must produce the evidence and story required for a defense. In a poorly run operation, this “cost of discovery” alone can easily exceed the cost of implementing a knowledge management system.

So, if you are wondering about knowledge management or what it means, think about the courtroom.

Comments

[Yigal Chamish]

Great insight!

[Kevin Shea]

Hi Yigal.

Glad you agree... I find it a lot easier to tell someone about something by using an analogy or by relating it to something most people know about.

I looked at your blog (english) and I can say that we completely agree on "the Story".. and using stories to capture the essense of what, how, why, etc.

There has always been a need to capture "the story" and it is my opinion that Web2.0 tools will now make that much easier than in the past.

Academically, I would be interested in what you think constitutes (makes up the elements of) a good story within the context of a business.

I will be writing on the topic of Dynamic Knowledge Processing as the real need as opposed to Knowledge Management. So stay tuned in.

Kevin