denotes premium content | May 21 2013 Feature
posted 1 Mar 2000 in Volume 3 Issue 6
Your
Say: Immitative vs innovative
Learning and knowledge management
should be sole mates. Corporate learning should lead to the creation of new
knowledge that is captured, shared, and exploited. But is this the case?
According to the two
year investigation I undertook for my report Developing a Corporate Learning Strategy
(1) most training and development inputs are not resulting in new
knowledge and intellectual capital outputs. Substantial sums are being spent on
activities that do not have knowledge creation objectives. Learning centres and
corporate universities are recycling existing knowledge rather than adding to
intellectual capital.
Some of the companies examined are trying hard. Forty different
approaches to knowledge management were encountered and twenty-five different
areas of opportunity for learning businesses were identified. However, despite
the enormous potential for income generation, education, training and
development are rarely the vital source of knowledge, intellectual capital and
value for stakeholders they could so easily become.
Information can be sold, and '
know-how' from simple tools and techniques to advanced methodologies can be
licensed. Customer education can be a strategic business opportunity. But the
explicit knowledge management initiatives I encountered appear to have been
conceived, and operate, quite independently of the training and development
function.
Enormous sums of money are devoted to exposing a diversity of people,
working on very different activities, to common experiences that have little
relevance to their particular requirements and priorities.
The overwhelming
majority of the initiatives examined
are imitative rather than innovative. Existing knowledge is being shared,
but new knowledge is not being created. The passive receipt of common training
inputs can stifle individuality and original thought, and lead to buzz-word
repeating clones. Playing ' catch up' and adopting ' me too'
approaches are not the way to market leadership.
' Training' may not be appropriate for
enterprises intent upon transforming how business is done. Beyond the boundaries
of what is known, there may not be relevant knowledge to share. The emphasis has
to be upon active exploration and learning.
Customers increasingly demand bespoke
services, while the ' know-how' proportion of many offerings continues to grow.
Enterprising companies innovate, pioneer and discover. Their people invent new
games, establish new markets, and introduce new ways of delivering greater value
to their customers.
The management of a current stock of information or knowledge, which
might or might not be relevant to individual aspirations, customer requirements,
or corporate objectives, is becoming an obsession. Corporate learning strategy
should produce energetic creators, imaginative innovators and restless
explorers, and lead to new insights, discoveries and breakthroughs.
Reference
1. A free brochure on
the report Developing a Corporate Learning Strategy can be obtained from Policy
Publications by e-mail: policypubs@kbnet.co.uk or by
telephoning 01234 328448.
Professor Colin Coulson-Thomas is Chairman of the Judges for the
Awards for Innovation in eBusiness. He advises on corporate learning and
development. He can be contacted at:
adaptationltd@cs.com
