The New Knowledge SHARING Economy
When I was a publicist during the "dot com" era one of the hot trends (for a few months anyway) was called "Knowledge Management" - the idea that a company could capture all the intellectual capital within its organization into a centralized database and share it within the enterprise. Not much came of it.
But now we are headed away from a knowledge management era built strictly on profit motives and towards a knowledge sharing economy focused foremost on building trusted business relationships and communities of interest. This is where the Web 2.0 world of blogs, forums, online videos, podcasts and a variety of "how to" sites fits in. From my own point of view, I see small business really leading the charge on this one as they are quicker to adapt to changing circumstances and new opportunities.
In this new environment, it’s no longer what you know that eventually gets you ahead it’s instead how much you are willing to freely share. The challenge we will all soon face is transitioning from being principally a consumer of data and knowledge to being a provider or distributor of knowledge - each of us sharing information not based on hype or self-serving interest but the really useful stuff.
I’m excited about delving into this new way of doing business - a vision that isn’t defined solely by the borders of my own wallet.
And yes, by sharing I mean most often giving it away for FREE! What does the knowledge sharer get out of this equation? For one we expand our market awareness and therefore the number of people who might someday do business with us. I firmly believe following this new model will result in increased revenue for our businesses.
Thinking of how we choose our friends is not a bad model for seeing how this new knowledge sharing economy works. Which organization are you most likely to do business with in the future? The guy that always wants to nickel and dime you to death for every bit of information or service performed? The one who locks us into his proprietary solutions for his own profit reasons or someone that helped us out by providing some critical piece of free information when he didn’t have to? Which business is getting our loyalty and recommendation? If that business were a person, which would make the better friend?
Some would argue that "wait a minute - you're suggesting I start giving away information that took me years to learn, knowledge that I rely on to now to feed my family?" Yes, that's exactly right! Take the example of a lawyer giving free business law advice on his blog. Is he or she really hurting their own firm by doing this or in the long run are they gaining business and trust within their community?
I'm not limiting this to white collar professionals either. Why can’t a plumber do the same thing, a dry cleaner, a locksmith, a waiter - a construction worker?
This past week I had a display table at a Chamber of Commerce mixer in my local area. The owner of an auto parts store looked at my signage and some example videos I had running and said to me “it doesn’t sound like “how to videos” are something that I could do." Really, why not? I assured him that we all know a little about something. That knowledge is valuable to others, particularly when it’s freely shared.
An economy without morality profits no one. We only have to think of the mortage brokers who less than a year ago were busy getting people into risky debts that in no way they could afford - why? Of course because those brokers got hefty commission checks out of the deal. Just where are those same brokers now? What “deals” are they pitching today? I'd bet we need look no further than the credit crisis management companies I hear over and over again advertising on the radio.
Upton Sinclair is quoted as saying "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." I'm trying something new, I'm trying to understand.
Are you interested in joining me?
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Reader Comments (1)
Very good info, and very insightful.