Knowledge

Stop Database. Start Connectivity.

Knowledge sharing is like the Loch Ness Monster. Everybody’s talking about it, but who has actually seen it? The sad truth is, it does not work. At least the way most people are trying to do it. The good news is, it can work if you shift your focus from producing and storing content to connecting people.

Databases: the end of an illusion?

Enhancing knowledge management within the law department is on the to do list of nearly all the general counsel, and has been there for ever, but execution is lacking. Let’s face it: it is wishful thinking. There are many possible explanations:

• People are not producing the standard documents, not updating the templates, or not filing them properly in the database;
• Documents exist and are properly filed, but quality sucks and nobody wants to use them;
• The filing system is so complex that none really knows how to use it, so the hell with it;
• It does not make sense to use a NDA written to meet City standards for a due diligence of a family business in Slovakia;
• Lawyers only trust documents they have sweat on themselves;
• Lawyers are reluctant to give up for free and without any kind of recognition the outcome of their work.

Whatever the reason, despite huge efforts and investments, most of the time the database initiative eventually crashes down or produces lilliputian results compared to the hopes and the investment.

Connectivity is the key

Smile! There is an alternative. Stop thinking about templates, standard documents, state-of-the art opinions, etc. Stop thinking about how to file everything that everyone knows or has ever produced. Stop dreaming about building up the ultimate corporate library where lawyers will be able to find top quality, up-to-date and user-friendly documents and models for everything they need. In other words, stop thinking about content. Think about peopleinstead.

When it comes to knowledge sharing, focus on sharing first, on knowledge after. It is not about building and centralizing content, it's about connecting and empowering people. It is about creating opportunities and platforms where colleagues can meet and interact, discuss, share, ask for help, and provide help. It is about making sure that people know each other and what they do, and have a chance to bring on their concerns, ideas, projects, questions to the community. With Web 2.0, technology is now offering amazing tools to do exactly that. But it is not just about technology. Old style networking works wonders as well!

Thinking about people instead of content, going for connectivity instead of a database, is a frightening move for the general counsel. You loose control over content. You don't control what people are asking to each other, what answers they give, and how they interact together. But did you really have control before? Everyone was using their own documents anyway, because the database never worked. So, are you loosing something else than an illusion or a wish of control?

Knowledge sharing that works is about creating a vibrant community. It is fun, interactive, ever-changing, it works in real time, and it saves everyone the over-boring and painful perspective of producing and updating for the rest of their life an entire library of templates. Who can beat a social network? Not a database, for sure.

Antoine Henry de Frahan | 24 December 2009 |