Adding Value in 2021

Professor Karl Eric Sveiby defines knowledge management as the art of creating value by consolidating intangible assets. That “Good Will” is not found in the financial statements, nor is it reflected in the balance sheet. It represents the Intellectual Capital of the company, which is made up of three solid and the same time, fragile bases: relationships with clients and external collaborators, structure, and processes, and, most importantly, our talents. In the age of knowledge, intangible assets or our Intellectual Capital have greater value than tangible ones. The challenges that organizations may have as a consequence of a lack of knowledge management are particularly evident in disruptive times. The success consists in creating a favorable climate to encourage the creativity of people in our organizations, in building a culture of trust, education, communication, and continuous improvements to ensure competitiveness, continuity, and innovation.

In the 90s it was of the understanding that document management systems, such as Worldox or netDocuments, would have the function of capturing, storing, and distributing explicit knowledge and that systems and the use of technology were the foundation of effective knowledge management. Although information systems and electronic documents continue to be an important part, our people are the carriers of tacit knowledge. With them initiates and ends the so-called "spiral of knowledge" according to Nonaka, who is considered one of the creators of the theory on knowledge-creating companies. That unique knowledge or so-called “know-how” is difficult to capture in processes or systems, they refer to the set of skills, learning experiences that help in solving problems or making decisions. Through interaction with other colleagues inside and through collaboration outside the organizations, new knowledge is created. Successful organizations care about the continuous education of their collaborators, thus ensuring they have the best talents aligned in the mission of offering value to their clients.

Innovative solutions to complex client problems are the result of the interaction of creative, multigenerational, and multicultural teams, within a horizontal structure designed to ensure effective communication, coordination, and integration of efforts, internally, in all departments and areas. In a client-oriented law firm, it means that all staff in legal and administrative, maintain shared tasks and authority, the atmosphere is relaxed and there are two-ways and continuous communication. An environment of flexibility promotes teamwork and collaboration and, with it, the ability to adapt quickly to times of change

As a colleague said, explicit knowledge has become a commodity, referring to increasing access to information, Big Data, the Internet of things, robotics, artificial intelligence, simulation, gamification, operational intelligence, quantum computing, 3D printing, Artificial Intelligence, to name a few. Professor Steve Blank points out that continuous innovation is an integral part of an organization's processes. He indicates that, in organizations that lack a formal innovation process, project approvals tend to be based on who has the best device, demonstration ability, or "who presses harder." Instead, one of the characteristics of successful organizations is the commitment of their people to identify and close gaps in the three axes of knowledge management: results, processes, and technology. But also the commitment of its leaders to champion the initiatives of their talents and their willingness to share tacit knowledge through mentoring programs.

The year 2020 was the year of resilience in times of change and the year of transformation towards digitization. Beatriz Gonzalez in 2018 indicates that "Machines are good at answering questions, but humans are unbeatable asking it." Now is our time to ask questions. Now is our chance to implement knowledge management. It's our time to add value in 2021.