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Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?Where is the knowledge we have lost in information? (T.S. Eliot, 1935).
Introduction
The works of poet T.S. Eliot appear regularly in knowledge management papers, notwithstanding the reality that he was not, technically, a management guru. His regular quotation is likely because he so eloquently stated what many of us try to express, when he penned the prose above. These two lines from the opening chorus of The Rock articulate the knowledge management dilemma. One would assume the aim is to gain, not lose, wisdom and knowledge as managers ascend the cognitive hierarchy. Tragically, T.S. Eliot's questions are more valid today than when they were scribed so long ago. Perhaps the real question is "Where is the knowledge we have lost in managers?"
What is knowledge?
The majority of academics and knowledge management authorities make a distinction between the three related but discrete terms of data, information, and knowledge. The three terms are hierarchical in nature with data being the foundation upon which information builds to an apogee of knowledge. Occasionally researchers use the collective noun "knowledge" to group together the three blocks of the knowledge pyramid. For example, in War and Anti-War , the futurist authors [23] Toffler and Toffler (1993) use the term knowledge as "defined broadly to include information, data, communication and culture" (p. 293). The outcome of such an unfortunate assemblage is the fallacy that practices such as data processing, information management, and knowledge management are synonymous. Although that may suit their needs, avoiding such generalizations reduces confusion and provides a clearer description.
The concept of categorizing and defining the parts of knowledge is not new. In Views of Knowledge are Humans Views , [8] Dueck (2001) describes ancient Greek philosophers' differentiation of knowledge including:
- Episteme - abstract generalizations, basis, and essence of sciences; scientific laws and principles;
- Techne - technical know-how, being able to get things done, manuals, communities of practice; and
- Phronesis - practical wisdom, drawn from social science (p. 885).
Sir Francis Bacon, attributed with saying "Knowledge is power", studied knowledge in the early seventeenth century and published his views in The Advancement of Learning . Despite these seminal works, interest in epistemology waned until after...