Are you surrounded by knowledge silos?

I first came across this phrase through reading an awesome book called ‘Helping People Win at Work‘ by Garry Ridge (CEO, WD40 Company). A ‘Knowledge Silo’ is someone who gathers all the know-how of a position or department and does not like to share this information to other colleagues. Whether this is done through a lack of trust with fellow colleagues or a way to build security and value within an organisation, it can be a very dangerous culture that is developed in a non-profit or secular work place.

Why is this a danger? It becomes a danger because people who are knowledge-silos are people who lack trust. If the company or organization fosters an environment that is full of these types of personalities, it is difficult to build an happy workplace where people can grow and be fully effective for the work environment.

So how can knowledge-silo person be identified?

How can one determine if a person, whether you or someone you may know is a knowledge silo type of person?  One of the key factors is their unwillingness to share information. Now a volunteer can be a knowledge silo, as much a the leader of the organisation. Why are people sometimes not willing to share information? I believe it is because their value and worth within the organisation is determined by the amount of knowledge they have aquired. Based on that assumption, it is easy to determine why people are unwilling to share information.

Now some of the information that people may be unwilling to sharing is procedures, policies, company culture – (the way we do things around here), job sharing etc. Job sharing is a big one, ever been in a workplace that says, ‘that is not your responsibility, it is mine’, you go to do something else, the same person says, ‘not your area of responsibility, it is mine’, we may have a knowledge silo on your hands. The number one danger with this type of situation is: What if something happened to that person, where has that left the organisation. How much has that cost the organisation, in having to train somebody to take over that position. If the culture was knowledge sharing, everyone involved in those area, are familiar and workload is shared, and the actual output and effectiveness of the organisation is more positive on a whole

The challenge faced then is the culture that has been developed in the organisation that fosters this type of unwillingness to share knowledge and information. Changing the culture of the organisation from a knowledge silo base to a more open based sharing environment is no easy feat. But how can it be done. It can be done by implementing the same principles of turning a cruise ship around…one degree at a time. Making culture modifications in an organisation, must be driven from the leader.

Try using incentives to built repore with fellow workers and people that work both in a horizontal and vertical position to you.The WD40 company is a great example of a work culture that fosters open knowledge.

If you can develop a culture of trust, you can begin to assure people that sharing information, is not going to jeopardise their positions. What knowledge sharing actually empowers people to perform better, and it actually makes people more accountable both on a cross managment level as well as on a top down level.

Organisations can be knowledge silos.

Have you ever been a part of an organisation that does not share anything it has discovered to help the industry? Too often we think that if we reinvent the wheel, we can save or be better off. I believe this level of thinking is changing as leaders and managers grasp the concept that it is okay to share information. Now I am not talking about sharing the 11 herbs and spices to infamous KFC recipe, I am talking about sharing the kind of information that can better serve the fast food industry.

Take a look at lifechurch.tv for example. Perhaps the most innovate church organisations around on the internet at the moment. Through their open knowledge sharing, they are making such an impact globally. One can download all sorts of materials, and use it free of charge in your church. Chances are you are using their youversion app on your smart phone. This is a prime example of knowledge sharing. Their latest project is just another example of their willingnes to serve the industry not just themselves. Checkout whatsnextkit.tv – a wonderful resource to help the entire body of Christ.

Let’s change our thinking in collecting information to only benefit ourselves, we have a duty to serve beyond just ourselves. As we share what we know, we are helping the whole.