Some firms are still trying to figure out what knowledge management (KM) means and how it relates to their business. Leading firms have long recognised it as the key to their future success and have been working at it for years.
Most firms are somewhere between these two extremes. Those firms in the middle may wish to consider the following common myths and realities about KM as they consider how to proceed.
Myth 1: technology is the key to making KM happen for our firm
The reality behind this myth is highlighted by Tom Davenport, one of the founding fathers of KM, when he says: “If you are spending more than 30% of your knowledge management efforts on technology, you will fail.”
To succeed at KM, an organisation must have not only the right technology, but also the right organisational infrastructure, the right business processes and the right culture to ensure that knowledge creation, capture and sharing is embedded in everything that everyone in the organisation does on a daily basis.
Law firms that subscribe to the myth that technology alone will make KM happen will find themselves buying technology solutions, implementing them without paying sufficient attention to the remaining 70%, and then blaming the technology for their lack of success. These firms will not achieve success until they realise technology is only part of the equation for success.
