Knowledge hoarding is a real thing in organizations, and it is not industry agnostic. Let’s begin by defining knowledge hoarding. I define it as, “an intentional effort to withhold information that may benefit the organization.” It’s been identified previously as part of the five power bases (i.e., coercive, reward, charismatic, expert, and legitimate), and is in fact considered the sixth principle of power. Research by French and Raven (1966) identified information as a part of leadership knowledge, but there is plenty of evidence to strongly suggest that knowledge or information as a power base can extend well into the organization - to the individual contributor level.
We can draw strong lessons from the natural sciences related to organizational structure. Margaret Wheatley, PhD published a fantastic treatise Leadership and the New Science (1999), which explored the similarities between science and organizational design. Here are a few that come to mind:
Nature abhors a vacuum. Organizations do as well. In the absence of true leadership, a leader will emerge to fill the void, usually not one with the organization’s best interests in mind.
Regardless of a lack of structure, a system will emerge. I have seen many organizations who do not have an intentional structure to support work, interdependencies, or systems of communication. Even in the absence of a thought-out and documented structure, however, one will develop. It is often hidden, with only bits and pieces fully known to organizational members. Its often known under the axiom of “this is just how we do it here.”
Both of the above are ideal environments to nurture and sustain knowledge hoarding. Here are three examples from my own experience of knowledge hoarding and the high cost to organizations:
1. A large manufacturing firm has one team member who will not share critical maintenance information with the team. In fact, he keeps a separate set of documents that he shares only with a select few within his small circle. The cost to the organization overall is unknown because the behavior is allowed to continue as no one wants to address it. Anecdotally however, two different teams develop work plans, two sets of work orders are produced, duplicate parts are ordered, and the two teams spend time in either a state of confusion, conflict, or disruption.
2. Nursing is known to eat their young. For non-healthcare readers, this often means that nurses will intentionally withhold important information to new or novice nurses, often cited as, “well, I had to figure it out on my own, so everyone else should too.” A new nurse, left to figure it out on her own, was publicly humiliated in front of the unit by asking a simple question. In her embarrassment and frustration, she no longer felt comfortable seeking information. Her failure to do so led to several quality-related, patient incidents. The potential cost: patient care, poor patient/quality scores, possible Join Commission findings, and liability.
3. The worst, and my early entrée into the work of organizational development, was in health equipment manufacturing. An entire department was told NOT to share critical product information with other operational areas, it was deemed unimportant for anyone else to know. The product, however, a blood glucose meter, required extra blood to provide superior results, as supported by its tagline. Customers and end-users called the nurses at the tech line inquiring as to why they had to supply more blood. End-users were frustrated because they needed more expensive glucose sticks – with free boxes of strips sent to appease said customers. The outside sales reps did not have any answers, nor did the product inserts. The actual cost: the organization could not sustain the cost of the returned meters or the loss of consumer confidence. The venture capitalists pulled their funding, and 70 employees lost their jobs.
Knowledge hoarding is a real thing in organizations. Whether it’s intentional or an oversight there are significant costs, even if the organization has the financial means to pay a second set of invoices. Imagine, however, the benefits overall if organizations were structured in a manner that made interdependencies clear through well defined, documented, and shared systems. Imagine the increase in the overall happiness quotient if we had leaders who practiced effective leadership where all voices were considered and respected. Imagine the additional revenue as consumers were truly satisfied with great products stemming from great design and shared dialogue – and you didn’t have to pay for duplicate products and work.
We can help! We have both an organizational design process that documents important process to gain clarity into important considerations like quality, consistency, compliance, and the customer experience. We also have a suite of leadership development learning modules to help leaders understand their role is to open up the lines of communication, not shut them down. If you’re tired of the hidden cost of knowledge hoarding or are experiencing the cost to your business, realized or not, we’d love to help!
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