David Wardell said...

Joel,

Many thanks for sharing this interesting piece.

My own experience includes several senior IT management positions and many engagements working with cross-discipline teams as a consultant. The results I’ve observed are similar to those discussed in the article, but I differ with them as to the cause: it comes down to simple bad management.

I’ve organized and conducted many problem-solving sessions. Once it because clear that everyone’s views and experiences were genuinely welcome, discussed on their merits, and not dismissed based upon rank or position, the amount of insightful, detail-level expertise and information forthcoming was truly amazing–and never a waste of time.

People do horde information–but usually they do so because they are convinced that the “higher-ups” don’t want it and don’t care. Regretfully, they are more often right than not.

You may be interested in my piece on “Managers and Leaders,” which can be read at: http://bit.ly/9nPTVZ

Best regards,

David Wardell

[Joel: Great points, David. A good manager/faciliatator can definitely help to ease the trust taxes and also encourage participation. Appreciate your comments.]

June 18, 2010 7:21 am #

forgeron said...

That’s just the way it works. Part of any social contract is that the members suppress any information which might disrupt the collective. This phenomenon can be observed in any collective you can imagine (family, business, state, church, etc.) — the members of the group agree to maintain and observe taboos in order to “protect” the whole from what is perceived (whether incorrectly or not) as a potential disrupting influence.

And the net result of all this is resistance, in effect, to reality — new information, inconvenient truth, and maintenance of the status quo are the consequences, which are what virtually all established organizations desire. Change is the mortal enemy of Power. On more of a macro scale, this process results in cycles of growth, rigidity, collapse, decay, rebuilding, etc.

The breaking point comes just as waters breach a levee — at a critical moment the external force is too great for the internal walls to hold back, and the old is washed away in what seems like an instant, making way for new life to grow and build on a firmer foundation.

Nature of the universe, it seems

June 28, 2010 9:01 am #

Doug Brockbank said...

My experience working in large, enterprise environments operating from a “command-and-control” approach, is that people are really not free to speak up, or challenge assumptions. Some don’t care to do so, others believe they can’t change things and so why “rock the boat”, and others are simply boss pleasers. That’s why many hierarchial organizations stifle creativity and innovation. Fortunately, social media is breaking down the barriers and flattening organizations because “we are smarter than me”. The best evidence that group think does work is Wikipedia where people are free to contribute based on their interests without fear of rebuke. (After all, isn’t that one of the purposes of the the “Performance Review” – the keep workers in check?), I’m not arguing for tyrrany of the masses, but for honest, open discussions. In the Church, we agree that the seminary teacher should teach the doctrine of the Church and shouldn’t be free to utter words that diminish faith. But IT approaches, best practices and technologies are not doctrine and so the same rules do not apply. The bottom line? Hire people who “enable” knowledge, and not “control” it. That is the promise of the Knowledge Workplace!

July 14, 2010 7:32 pm #