Knowledge is the third way an organization’s processes create value. Knowledge is defined as “a result or product of knowing; information or understanding gained through experience; practical skill or ability.”[1] The operative words to this definition are: “result”, ”product”, and “experience.” Knowledge is an understanding of the patterns of information within a temporal stream of information. It is skill gained through time. As information is a transformation of data, so, knowledge is a transformation of information; and there is always a temporal element in the transformation of information into knowledge. It takes time to see the patterns in the information and to understand them well enough to extrapolate knowledge from them.
(Also See posts: The Concept of Value, Capacity Value, and Political Value)
[1] Funk and Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary, vol. 1, (Funk and Wagnalls Publishing Co, Inc., 1969), p. 359.
And what most people want is a "tool" that packages that knowledge for their use. They don't care about the knowledge - just its use.
ReplyDelete(e.g., screwdriver vs knowledge of physics, levers, metallurgy, friction, adhesion, etc.)