Netco newsletter May/June 2006

The Knowledge Gap

A lot is said about the so-called 'knowledge society'. It claims that people participating in it (whether they realise it or not) automatically become knowledge workers. 'Closing the gaps', enjoyed a brief life and could well do with a resurrection here as nowhere are there gaps as gaping as knowledge gaps.

People who hope to prosper using databases, the Web and spreadsheets need to learn their intricacies. When was the last time a knowledge worker of your acquaintance who had captured your e-mail address in their Outlook file hammered you unknowingly with a virus-infected torrent? Did you open that innocent message and if you read it and opened the attachment then you became the next to send out the virus to everyone who had the misfortune to be in your electronic address book. That's a knowledge gap at work.

Are so-called knowledge workers taught to defrag their hard drives weekly or even care what that means? Do they write Word macros or wait until the help desk gets around to installing something for them? Suppose they wanted to e-mail their company logo at the top of documents to gussy them up. Would they realise that 600 dots per inch might just slow down the e-mail a tad, seeing they were loading an extra 300KB to each message in what should have been a 4KB message? Do their customers and suppliers start to doubt their abilities and lose a little bit of confidence in them as a result?

If the equipment were all that was required, anyone buying a PC and Word Perfect would become a competent novelist and, with a Stanley knife a brain surgeon. The gap appears whenever the tool needed to complete the knowledge task is beyond the ability of the worker to understand, it. Until this gap is narrowed, knowledge workers should more accurately be described as employees.

Here's a hint for those who hire and fire. If your heart goes wicketywickety when you run up a few stairs, see a trained heart specialist, not a part-time naturopath. Similarly, if you want your company to prosper from a knowledge society, hire a knowledgeable knowledge worker or train your staff thoroughly. You can bet your some of your competitors do.