With the ban on smoking in office premises, die hard smokers brave the hot sun to walk a mile to the pan shop to light up. I have the privilege of accompanying many a smoker to the hallowed smoke zone where every non smoker is looked down upon. Now , this area usually gets cramped up and its very uncomfortable. On one such occasion, a friend of mine remarked… hey , this is becoming worse than Mumbai. The irony is not the crowd , but the fact that 50 meters away there was ample space. The challenge ... to walk 50 meters
We walked back to the lifts only to find a huge rush. But then we got into the first lift that arrived, so did almost 25 others ( I lost count of heads), when the lift was actually only built for 15. Why couldn’t we wait for the next lift..or the one after that?!
I guess it all boils down to taking that extra step! Of that extra effort for better results!
It struck me that it’s a culture of pretending to thrive in an environment of scarcity instead of taking the effort to prosper in a environment of plenty.
Now linking this back to knowledge Management, I am reminded of its classic definition which is about taking knowledge to the person who needs it from the person who has it. In large corporations, one really does not know who has the knowledge and the person who needs the knowledge is living in a world of psychological scarcity. He refuses to reach out.
It’s a cultural thing, I guess. It’s about the comfort of the cocoon. People who grow out of it and reach out , typically succeed. But one does not get to see that often. The pertinent question is can the organization afford to have a people who would like to thrive in a culture of scarcity.
Creating an environment of plenty… Everybody has access to plenty of knowledge... WOW..Now thats worth a goal pursuing!!
