Why your projects don’t improve: from knowledge hoarding to knowledge sharing

Organizational knowledge exists within an abstract thought-cloud that grows larger as new information is shared. It also functions as the institutional knowledge repository where employees find and grow their own organizational acumen.

Knowledge hoarding is killing your projects and perhaps even your business. 

Ever wonder why your organization keeps running into the same problems, project after project? The answer might be hiding in plain sight: knowledge hoarding.

If you have any doubts, consider the tale of Beacon Medical, the now defunct medical equipment manufacturer whose lack of knowledge sharing cost them their venture capital and eventually the startup business itself. 

Beacon Medical was a Minnesota based start-up with a unique, proprietary algorithm that set their blood glucose meter apart from all others.  The good news for diabetic patients: this meter had far superior glucose measurement capacity which meant better, more accurate results for patients, improved quality of life, and more precise insulin dosages.  The bad news: this great new device required more blood than any other meter on the market.  The worse news: the engineers at Beacon Medical didn’t think anyone else needed to know. 

The nurses on the help line didn’t know how to address the questions and concerns from users. The outside sales representatives were deluged with questions, equally uncertain how to respond, further they were beginning to see the financial implications as returns mounted and sales slowed.  Frustrated customers were tired of re-poking their finger and wasting expensive test strips as the meter read out displayed “more blood required.”  The accounting team was upset because the allotted number of “free” test strips was increasing exponentially and the federal requirements for sterilizing medical devices was eating into the inventory.  The product, much hyped and newly released, quickly got a bad reputation in the market. 

It was at this point when the team realized what was happening.  The meter required more blood by design, but the engineering team never felt it was necessary to share this critical information with anyone else.  By the time the realization had come to light, the venture capitalists called in their loans and the company shuttered.  Whether intentional knowledge hoarding or accidental lack of knowledge transfer the result was the same.  From a shattered dream, to job-loss, and a lot of sore fingers, the lack of shared information cost a lot of grief and angst.

The Role of knowledge sharing in organizations

Learning occurs at individual, team, and organizational levels, and is essential for continuous improvement.  Without effective knowledge sharing the organizational knowledge schema, the abstract knowledge cloud within the organization, can quickly shrink from lack of new knowledge, or like the case of Beacon Medical, fracture into multiple, smaller clouds that quickly take on their own form. 

The small dark clouds of organizational silos are represented in black because they are both a black-hole of knowledge that is rarely shared with others and shared knowledge outside of the department of silo is often viewed as threatening.

Unlike a giant cloud of knowledge and information of which new knowledge is captured and shared, these tiny schemas become the sole property of each department, creating and even sustaining organizational silos. 

Why and how silence stifles

• Knowledge Hoarding vs. Knowledge Sharing:

  Knowledge hoarding is a silent barrier to progress. When lessons learned are trapped within silos or individuals, organizations repeat mistakes and fail to leverage collective experience. Creating a culture of knowledge sharing through open forums, collaborative tools, and leadership modeling is directly correlated with project improvement and innovation.  This is the foundation of Six Sigma and Lean practices.

  
  

• Learning Loops and Feedback:

  Organizations often collect data but don’t close the feedback loop. Documenting “lessons learned” is critical, but how often do you actively revisit and integrate them into future planning, ensuring real change occurs.  Additionally, the use of an After-Action Review has been a proven strategy for success as it alleviates any finger pointing to get to the real root cause without jeopardizing psychological safety.

  
  

• Psychological Safety:

  Projects stagnate when team members fear sharing failures or unconventional ideas. A culture that fosters psychological safety, defined by the ability for employees to feel safe to speak up, accelerates learning and project evolution.

  
  

• Leadership’s Role:

  Leaders set the tone for learning. If leadership doesn’t model curiosity, humility, and a willingness to learn from mistakes, organizational learning efforts will stall. Additionally, effective leadership compels us to have a basic understanding of human dynamics and how that affects knowledge sharing as well.

Barriers to Becoming a Learning Organization

• Knowledge is often siloed; lessons learned are not systematically captured or shared,

• Lack of formal processes for feedback, reflection, and institutionalization of learning,

• Knowledge is often seen as a base of power.  Bad organizational citizens will and can use it to promote their own hidden agenda, influence with key people, or simply to feel superior, 

• Processes are rarely documented leading to confusion, hidden factories, constant conflict, and missed expectations.

Steps to Foster a Learning Organization

• Establish knowledge repositories and regular lessons-learned sessions,

• Encourage open sharing and feedback at all project stages,

• Foster cross-team collaboration,

• Leadership must model and reward learning behaviors,

• Clearly document processes so everyone can visually see necessary intersections, or how knowledge transfer is critical to success,

• Focus on team relationships as they create, establish, and foster trust and communication.

A cautionary tale or real-life scenario?

Sadly, the case of Beacon Medical is far from a cautionary tale. Having worked in the space of organizational learning for well over 30 years, I have seen this exact scenario play of over and over.  While Beacon Medical lost everything, many organizations are able to survive, however there are real costs associated with long-term strategy and goals.

Ready to break the cycle of stagnant projects? Discover what’s truly impeding your organization’s progress. Take our proprietary Organizational Learning Assessment to uncover hidden barriers, benchmark your learning culture, and get actionable insights for real improvement.

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In addition, we offer a variety of tools that help managers and employers understand how we learn as adults and within the context of the organization!

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Disclaimer: “Beacon Medical” is a fictional company created for illustrative purposes. Any resemblance to real organizations, living or defunct, is purely coincidental.