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This myth is actually half-truth, but that only makes it more dangerous. By placing knowledge opposite power in this over simplified equation, some seriously misguided ideas are injected into the thinking processes of believers. By equating knowledge with power, the myth implies that the two can be handled in the same way, and that each is a means unto the other. |
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Because we experience power individually, when the issue of sharing our power arises, we cannot help but view this as a reduction of our own personal power. When we talk about knowledge being power, we in turn think that the way to guard our power is to guard our knowledge. (Bureaucratic Gatekeeper)
Given our cultural environment, this myth tells us that knowledge and power are both to be used for our personal gratification, and that each is put to its best use when selfishly guarded.(Sharing Information with Employees) |
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In this calculation, knowledge is most valuable when we have it and others do not. This myth has motivated people in organizations to hoard knowledge, just as they hoard power. In fact, they hoard knowledge as a means to hoard power. |
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All of this poses some very difficult problems for companies that must compete in today’s extremely volatile markets. When people in companies adopt this myth, they hoard knowledge as a way to enhance their personal power. Being "indispensable" to your company becomes a matter of withholding what you know. This myth becomes the prime directive for an individual’s efforts to enhance their own job security. |
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But consider the effects of this on the company as a whole. When people in companies hoard knowledge, they keep a tight grasp on the ability to make good decisions. As a result, the speed of response that the organization can react with is severely reduced. Furthermore, the quality of those decisions once they are made is low. |
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Maintaining the egos of corporate power brokers by "going through proper channels" becomes more important than meeting the needs of customers with lightning speed. Serving the knowledge and power needs of the hierarchy places the customer on the absolute bottom of the pecking order. When an organization operates in this dysfunctional way, everyone’s job security is diminished, because customers will simply go elsewhere, given their ability to do so. |
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