Assembly required: 8 myths about knowledge management debunked

• Data are raw, unorganized facts, such as numbers, text, and images, that lack context and meaning on their own.
• Information results from organizing, processing, and contextualizing data to provide meaning and relevance, enabling people to answer specific questions such as “who,” “what,” “when,” and “where.”
• Knowledge is created by the systematic process of capturing, synthesizing, analyzing, and interpreting information to achieve a higher level of understanding of some problem or course of action.

The scientific method is the gold standard for creating knowledge. From observations (data), scientists formulate a clear and specific hypothesis that provides a possible explanation for the observed phenomenon.Scientists then conduct experiments to test the hypothesis by collecting and analyzing information to draw conclusions that may either support or refute the hypothesis.The scientific method promotes a systematic and transparent approach to creating knowledge.

Here is an example from the business world: A large global producer of cocoa and coffee grows, dries, and grinds its beans. Since grinding machines differ in their yields, senior leaders at the firm recognized that valuable knowledge could be generated by investigating these differences. Monthly reports aggregate data from all the machines to identify high- and low-yielding ones. Tiger teams of engineers are then dispatched to investigate the causes of these differences. In one case, an engineer spent weeks observing a particularly high-yielding machine until one day, the engineer and the machine’s operator happened to arrive at the same time. The engineer noticed the operator switched the machine on before getting his morning coffee, after which he began operating the grinder 15 minutes later. The engineer surmised the higher yield resulted from allowing the machine to warm up. He tested this hypothesis by having some machines at the facility warm up and others not. The warmed-up grinders produced the highest yields. This knowledge, generated through observation, reflection, study, and social interaction, led to a new companywide policy: “Let the grinder warm up for 15 minutes,” resulting in millions of dollars of extra profit at no additional cost.

Far from the world of coffee, another business organization that relies on knowledge assembly to improve outcomes is the mafia. In our book, Relentless: The Forensics of Organized Crime Business Practices, we describe the daily routine of an undercover FBI agent who infiltrated a New York City crime family. The mobsters hung out at their private social club, discussing possible crimes to commit that night. They would discuss how to fence stolen jewelry, furs, or other products. This routine assembled knowledge, whereby each criminal provided his personal information of goods available for theft, others input their personal information of law enforcement presence, and others input their personal information about possible ways to fence their burgled goods. The knowledge assembled during the day informed the criminal decision-makers about their activities that night.

Some means of knowledge acquisition are more serendipitous. Penn Medicine researchers and recent Nobel prize winners, Dr. Katalin Karikó and Dr. Drew Weissman, for example, revealed that their unexpected collaboration leading to the invention of mRNA breakthroughs began during random conversations while fighting over the use of an office copier.

Serendipity is the unintentional discovery of novel insights, ideas, or solutions that lead to breakthroughs. Serendipitous knowledge creation often involves the ability to recognize the value of unexpected findings. Senior leaders must be willing to explore uncharted territories and embrace accidental discoveries to create new knowledge.

8 myths of knowledge management

Having described some fundamental concepts underlying knowledge assembly, we now discuss common myths and misconceptions that prevent many firms from fully benefiting from a robust knowledge assembly process.