IF YOU DON'T TRUST IT, COUNT IT!
I have just completed reading a lovely little book entitled The Tyranny of Numbers by David Boyle (Flamingo, London, 2001). In this book, Boyle provides a history of numbers, counting and how statistics began to rule our lives. All of this made me think how readily we resort to counting something if we don't trust that thing. This has been the basis for auditors, work study practioners, time clocking machines, etc and etc. It got me to thinking about how easy it is to count (measure) information but how difficult it is to count (measure) knowledge. If we are to be true to the ideals of knowledge management, value-adding, innovation, development of people, etc.,we need to think carefully how to really measure knowledge. Knowledge management should not be about counting or measuring information, which unfortunately it often tends to be, but about extracting knowledge from people. Counting and measuring are not the most appropriate tools for this as they ignore emotional aspects and, my view, they destroy trust. Rather tools like conversation, interactive story telling and participation in communities are far better suited for this purpose.
11:16:22 AM 
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