Personal Knowledge Management: Individual, Organizational and Social Perspectives

Citation

Isfandyari‐Moghaddam, A. (2013), "Personal Knowledge Management: Individual, Organizational and Social Perspectives", Aslib Proceedings, Vol. 65 No. 3, pp. 326-329. https://doi.org/10.1108/00012531311330674

Today, the famous saying of Francis Bacon, i.e. scientia potentia est (knowledge is power; what has been frequently emphasized by famous theorists including Alvin Toffler) is felt more than any time. Everybody whether natural or legal knows that knowledge is one of the main as well as undeniable factors affecting success, productivity, effectiveness, collaboration, communication, and power in different individual, organizational, social, national, and transnational aspects of twenty‐first century life. In fact, knowledge which can be truly treated as one of the most important preconditions of hegemony – not only political – is a key to achieve competitive advantage. Yet, like anything it needs to be managed and its management, or to be precise, the capacity of managing knowledge requires relevant knowledge in theory and practice. To meet such goal but from a person‐centered perspective which its realization may lead to an organizational and social promotion, to help individuals be more effective in personal, organizational and social environments, to allow individuals to manage their knowledge processes more effectively, to provide individuals with the tools and techniques they need to harness, control, and cope with the overpowering information available at the personal, organizational, and social situations, and in fact, to help individuals recognize the opportunities to weight knowledge and build capability, skill, and added value in all jobs, in all organizations, and in all societies, the book Personal Knowledge Management: Individual, Organizational and Social Perspectives has been compiled, edited, and published. This collection work embraces 12 chapters revolving around personal knowledge management (PKM) as a concept that has grown out of a combination of fields as diverse as knowledge management (KM) itself, personal information management, cognitive psychology, philosophy, management science, education, communications and many other disciplines.

Chapter 1 “The nature and value of personal knowledge management” authored by the book editors examines the evolving nature of knowledge work and the rapidly changing organizational and social environment that necessitates an individual approach to KM. It also raises the issue of potential conflict between PKM and organizational knowledge management (OKM) and how organizations might support PKM to bring greater effectiveness to OKM programmes. Then, looking at how individuals can develop PKM strategies to remain competitive, it is highlighted that PKM not only empowers individuals to take control of their own career paths as the nature of work continues to change, but it also gives organizations an opportunity to link their KM strategies with those of their employees, thus making success more likely.

Chapter 2 “Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? A stoical perspective on personal knowledge management” written philosophically and epistemologically by Peter Case and Jonathan Gosling starts with an extract from the chorus of T.S. Eliot's The Rock – Where is the Life we have lost in living? Where is the Wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information? Accordingly, reviewing the development of knowledge in a post‐enlightenment context and in a pre‐modern context, it aims to discriminate between “information”, “knowledge” and “wisdom” in order to explore the possibilities and dynamics represented by PKM. The chapter concludes with a discussion of Stoicism and suggests that its prescriptions with respect to “philosophy as a way of life” contain practical means by which a PKM agenda might be taken forward.

Chapter 3 “From information to imagination: multivalent logic and system creation in personal knowledge management” contributed by Peter Murphy explores the role of PKM in bridging between the shallows of our data streams and the depths of our creative imagination. It discusses three main components involved in creating systems, building knowledge systems, and managing personal digital libraries (i.e. information, knowledge, and imagination) and emphasizes that knowledge is a halfway house between information and imagination (p. 48).

In chapter 4 entitled “Recovering the individual as the locus of knowledge: communication and personal knowledge management” Mark Wolfe, indicating that communication is the critical component in KM undertakings but the theory at the core of communication study remains ignored within the KM domain, posits the individual as the locus of knowledge especially in the age of Web 2.0 and its foreseeable iterations (Web n.0) where communications and information self‐management, or precise, PKM are unavoidable. To recover the individual status in the equation of KM and communication, a number of tactical and strategic foci for the organization that re‐emphasize the individual are debated. Finally, posing question “whither KM in a Web 2.0 world?”, some remarks are concluded.

Titled “Systems intelligence as a lens for managing personal knowledge” chapter 5 authored by Rachel Jones, James Corner and Raimo P. Hämäläinen revolves around the migration happened in KM from machine‐driven technology (systematic management of existing knowledge using information technology) to user‐driven technology (management of existing knowledge by communities and individuals). Taking a multidisciplinary approach by applying a theory developed in the area of “systems research” namely “systems intelligence” (SI) to PKM, the chapter aims to bridge the division between the technological and organic perspectives of KM, by illustrating that PKM is as much concerned with social and communication skills as it is with interacting with technological systems. Hence, taking a SI approach, it is assumed that personal and organizational goals are interdependent, meaning that PKM and OKM are interrelated.

Chapter 6 “Managing your own knowledge: a personal perspective” written by Larry Prusak and Jocelyn Cranefield, as its title bears, concerns managing oneself from a PKM perspective. In addition to providing readers with some interesting considerations regarding the importance of personal knowledge and its management, it proposes four foundational practices (i.e. scan and reinvent; vet and filter; invest in your networks; and get out of your office) for PKM.

Chapter 7 “Knowledge management and the individual: It's nothing personal” contributed by David Snowden, David J. Pauleen and Sally Jansen van Vuuren generally relates to the emerging digital spaces termed as social knowledge networks (SKN) that necessitate an interactive participatory culture than unilateral personal one. In this line, a discussion of complexity theory and the use of multiple identities management, and the skills (including sense‐making skills) needed to develop and maintain SKN are provided so that the much complicated as well as intensified knowledge produced, shared, communicated, and consumed more than before can be facilitated and managed.

In chapter 8 “Managing personal connectivity: finding flow for regenerative knowledge creation” Darl G. Kolb and Paul D. Collins introduce knowledge creation and management through a lens of connectivity and explore how dualities between generative and regenerative knowledge processes match the inherent duality of connectivity (connects and disconnects). The authors, underpinning the connective perspective on personal knowledge creation and management, discussing dimensions and duality of connectivity, and illustrating the attributes of connectivity, recommend five practices to help knowledge workers better create and manage personal knowledge on the road of connectivity.

William Jones who wrote chapter 9 namely “No knowledge but through information” deals with important definitions extracted from some questions like what should PKM be about?, what should personal information management (PIM) be about?, how should the two relate?, should one subsume the other? Should each be regarded as a separate area of inquiry?, and where do areas overlap?. In order to respond these questions and in fact, present readers with reliable definitions, three statements “information is a thing; knowledge is not”, “there is no management of knowledge except through the management of information”, and “PKM is a very useful subset of PIM”, some interesting issues – different from the main theme of the book – are argued.

Chapter 10 “Personal knowledge management and knowledge worker capabilities” written by Thomas H. Davenport, emphasizing the importance of knowledge workers and the necessity of improving their performance, aims mainly at replying the question “what kinds of capabilities do knowledge workers need?”. Moreover, some studies relating to PKM, knowledge workers, and the attributes of highly proficient personal knowledge and information manager are reported.

“Exploring the linkages between personal knowledge management and organizational learning” is the title of chapter 11 within which Ricky K.F. Cheong and Eric Tsui discuss the role and value of PKM in an organization with an emphasis on organizational learning (OL). They also talk about the gaps between individual learning and OL as well as how to bridge these gaps. The inclusion of informative tables and figures in this chapter has enriched its text.

Finally, Karl M. Wiig in chapter 12 namely “The importance of personal knowledge management in the knowledge society” theoretically and from personal, organizational (economic and business), and societal (operational and functional) perspectives addresses the significance of PKM in the knowledge society in which wealth of knowledge as intellectual capital (IC) is of high value. Relevant to the discussion, some considerations concerning the individual as knowledge worker, society, knowledge, knowledge work, work complexity, and PKM are included. At the beginning, for better identification of the contributors of the work, a biography of 20 contributors (editors and authors) has been offered which is an indicative of strength and common wisdom behind the book. Admittedly, it could have included their contact information so that future communications can be facilitated. At the end, it has an index. In my opinion, as a collection work it lacks a conclusion chapter in which some remarks are highlighted, though, its relatively comprehensive preface has compensated such a need. In terms of content, as general description of above‐mentioned chapters shows, the book deals with knowledge which due to its value and unique features needs to be managed for realizing better consequences. The content has been formed in line with Churchill's motto, that is, “Empires of the future are the empires of the mind” and thus it focuses on the mind(s) of persons working with knowledge in individual, organizational, and social levels; the mind that should be equipped with some PKM skills and strategies well presented in the present title. Totally, this instructive, educational, and fruitful book can be considered as a complementary work for who are interested in KM, and as a platform and start point for further and future research on PKM. Buying and reading it will be rewarding to an unexpected degree. It is your choice!