I was looking for a term to use to refer to what one DOES, in the most general sense, when practising knowledge management. “Knowledge Analysis” seemed not to have any generally accepted meaning, so I have co-opted for this purpose.
I have adopted it to mean the following:
Definition & Purpose of Knowledge Analysis
Knowledge Analysis is an approach to analysing problems, issues or events through a knowledge perspective in order to understand them at a deeper level and form new insights about them.
Sometimes having new insights is enough. At other times, one can build on them to:
- Create better solutions or resolutions to problems
- Build better products and services
- Initiate transformations and innovations
- In general, make whatever changes the situation calls for
Premises Behind Knowledge Analysis
The essence of Knowledge Analysis is the taking of knowledge perspectives. This helps because:
Human beings are learning machines. Whatever we do, we learn, to some degree or other.
The by-product of learning is knowledge.
So:
Knowledge is at the core of
- What we do and how we do it;
- What we create and how we create it;
- What we communicate and how we communicate it.
It is even at the core of our being:
- What we are and how we are.
Practicing Knowledge Analysis
The above defintion of Knowledge Analysis leaves open the question of precisely how one can look at problems, issues or events through a knowledge perspective.
To put it into practice, we need a variety of tools or thinking/analysis aids in the form of concepts, principles and models that can be applied as circumstances suggest.
The way I personally practice Knowledge Analysis is through a collection of tools that I have brought together from various sources – some new, but most borrowed and re-purposed. These are the tools I use when analysing a problem or trying to better understand some issue or event.
You could say that Knowledge Analysis is the way I personally look at and make sense of the world.
My selection of tools is based on my many years of experience in the field of Knowledge Management, and key ideas that I have learned from fields such as organizational change, personal development, cultural studies, transformational psychology and integral theory.
Concepts, Principles and Models to Support Knowledge Analysis
These are the main concepts, principles and models I employ as part of Knowledge Analysis.
The names and descriptions are provisional and evolving. In no particular order…
Knowledge Mapping: organizing and structuring information, knowledge and concepts to make it/them easier to access, understand and use.
Models of Guidance and Learning: distinguishing between instructions, knowledge (various forms), information, skills and judgement.
The Path to Mastery: how people learn and develop along the path from novice to journeyman to expert to master – and how this path varies with different disciplines.
Changes In How We Make Sense Of The World: during our development from childhood to adulthood, the way we make sense of and understand the world goes through a number of transformations. That is obvious to everyone. But what is rarely understood, and even more rarely taken into account, is that these transformations of how we make sense of the world continue during our adult life. Ignoring this model of adult development is a likely contributor to the failure of many change initiatives.
The Primacy of Context: a prerequsite to understanding something / someone is an understanding of what “wholes” they are a “part” of. How understanding contexts creates a potential for re-framing problems.
Distinctions: clarity, understanding and learning usually require more and better distinctions.
Triple-Loop Feedback: the ultimate in learning. A persistent and sensitive awareness of all aspects of the “outside world” which provides constant feedback for re-evaluating our objectives, our strategies and our activities. There are two models of triple-loop feedback/learning – both of which provide insight into performance improvement.
Communication as Reality: how people communicate, relate to and understand each other. How knowledge, meaning and understanding are heavily influenced by – perhaps even defined by – social environments.
Techology as Enabler and Driver: how technology can help in how we acquire, understand, exploit and share knowledge. Our evolving consciousness creates and needs new technologies; new technolgies influence our evolving consciousness. It is a symbiotic relationship.
Alex Goodall
