Who Should be practising Knowledge Management?

This is a question that I have been asked many times?, and I usually respond with the question "Who is it that creates Knowledge?"......this is followed by a short silence, followed by the answer "Well I guess everyone creates Knowledge", to which I say "Everyone should be practising Knowledge Management".

I then usually give an example of an IT Technician that I know. He was a one man business. He designed and built websites and provided technical IT Support for a number of organisations.

One day he received a phone call from one of his clients asking him to come and resolve a problem with one of their printers; a HP Printer.....although it could have been any type of printer!

I only mentioned the printer brand because there is actually some deeper relevance to Knowledge Management because HP actually practices Knowledge Management, and one of their Executives once said "If only HP knew, everything that HP Knows".

Anyway, back to the story......he went out to visit the company and identified an error code that was preventing the computers (on a network) talking to the printer.

Like all good technicians he started with the onboard diagnostics, but was unable to identify the fault. He then went to the HP Website and again, no reference to the fault. He then started looking on the various HP User forums, and again there was no mention of this fault.

So he then started interrogating the system, investigating, trouble-shooting and experimenting and whether it was good diagnostic skills, or sheer fluke, he solved the problem.

What should he do now? If we look at the scenario, he has created unique Knowledge. This should be captured, protected and even shared with HP and the user forums. The benefits of this;
- Reputation and Kudos - he is clearly knowledgeable as he has resolved the problem
- Efficiency - He will save time if the fault reoccurs, or save time for others should they discover the same problem

What really happened?, he left the job with a thanks from the client. Two years later, the same company rang him up again and said "You remember we had that fault with the printer?, well it's happened again.....can you come and fix it?"

So he gets in to his car and visits the company, and identifies it as the same error from two years ago, again preventing the computers talking to the printer.

Remembering it wasn't on the onboard diagnostics, he starts his investigation at the HP Website and there is still no reference to the fault. He then proceeds to the various HP User forums, and again there is still no mention of this fault. So he starts interrogating the system, investigating, trouble-shooting and experimenting....but this time he can't solve the solve the problem.

This time he didn't leave with thanks from the company, he left to the sound of the Managing Director saying "Why haven't you fixed it, you did last time!"
And the outcome of this:
- Reputation and Kudos - Severely damaged
- Efficiency - Wasted time investigating a problem that he had previously investigated and solved

Does this sound familiar?

My view - I believe that every organisation, regardless of size, regardless of sector should be protecting 'Business Critical Knowledge' - Knowledge Management.