With respect to Intranets Gary Hobson poses a number of vexing problems.
He asks:
>How does one build a "common knowledge respository" out of such diverse
>experiences and situations? As individuals and groups contribute to the
>global data base....
I think this is the first point that technology must yield. Most of the
deep knowledge of an organization is contained in the memories and skills
of its people. In that sometimes flawed database management system has
vast capacity and a unique ability to make connections among dissimilar
pieces of information. In the rush to technology we all too often ignore
this resource.
>1) ... people don't
>want to sort through a mountain of information,
It is still true that we understand our world by categories. We do put
knowledge into a hierarchial structure. A knowledgeable librarian is
invaluable.
>2) If you want your intranet to serve the widest number of organizational
>members, you have to address the technology literacy (technophobia) issue.
The intranet is just another tool and loke any tool it must be made easy
to use and able to magnify our ability to accomplish our goals. If these
are not obtained no amount of training will cause the tool to be used.
IMHO technical literacy is an issue of usefullness.
>3) Unfortunately, even in the same organization, I think there is still a
>reluctance to share information, ideas and to collaborate.
It is here that the crux of the need for learning organizations. It is in
the atmosphere of helping each other to cope with our rapidly changing
society. We have to develop a culture in which success is dependent on
collaboration.
>4) I'd like to comment on one final change issue/potential obstacle. In
>today's global business environment ..... intranet/extranet could serve as a
>powerful tool for collaboration. However, how does one deal with the....,
>proprietary confidential issues that often become persistent roadblocks to
>real collaboration in a forum like an intra/extranet?
In the first place much of the information classified as confidential is
either not really worthy of the classification or can be known by other
means anyway. So my first though is to either not protect any information
or assure that only the smallest amount is protected. As for the
strategic alliances formed to gain some business goal, all the information
pertinent to the alliance and its goals must be available to all partners.
--"William J. Hobler, Jr" <bhobler@worldnet.att.net>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>