On sharing knowledge

One of my biggest gripes, as almost anyone who’s worked closely with me knows, is the lack of a standard way to share knowledge on a platform that is accessible to the people who need it. It should be shared in a way that strikes a balance between having enough details without losing the gist of why we’re doing something.

I’m not talking about sending massive email attachments that clog up your Inbox, although that’s at least better than getting nothing. It’s just that over time, that email disappears somewhere in your archives and you have to think, “Ah… who in that team sent me that Mother of an email? When was it?”

Instead, for important work projects we should be automatically clicking on an intranet page which has all the key content updated and appropriately filed. For events that occur again on a regular basis, we can always use previous documents as templates, and refer to the After Action Review to keep improving our work. And sharing info should be something easy to do, not requiring one to fill up numerous request forms and grapple with technobabble after that.

This pro-sharing mindset should extend beyond paid work, to the family home. Even if you have the info mapped into your head or your device, it’s good to list it down as others may not know it so well. How much do we pay per month for unavoidable things like utilities, the mortgage, groceries, the children’s school fees? Who are the people we need to call to fix things, like the plumber and electrician? When do the warranties expire? Who’s got all our insurance policy numbers and in case you become brain dead, do you wish to be resuscitated or not?

If we are so quick to share links or a funny or touching message with others, let’s commit some of this time to sharing things that matter more instead, to make work and family living a bit more organised.

And here ends my OCD rant 🙂