At its core, knowledge management is about sharing. In an increasingly competitive landscape, many organizations tend to focus on the individual goals and accomplishments. Knowledge management runs counter to that individualistic mindset. Instead, the power of knowledge management is rooted in a concern for the collective and a mindset of sharing lessons learned to benefit the larger group.
You can become a Power Player within your organization simply by sharing what you’ve learned. Believe it or not, knowledge bases are everywhere in one form or another. That OneNote file where you track all of your updates? That’s a knowledge base. The three-ring training binder you’ve highlighted with a sticky notes and tape flags for quick reference? That’s a knowledge base. The endless list of browser bookmarks you reference? Well, you get the idea.
Rather than hoarding your hard-won information and forcing people to beg for your insights – consider proactively documenting and sharing what you’ve learned. Each time you document something, ask yourself whether there are others who could benefit from your insights. If you can save someone else a few minutes in their day by helping them to make connections, clarify a process, or understand a best practice, you have Power Player potential. There are numerous benefits to incorporating knowledge sharing into your workflow. Adopting a sharing approach allows you establish yourself as a:
- Leader – your willingness to put forth ideas which can be refined over time sparks discussion and accelerates decision-making.
- Team player – your interest in supporting colleagues by providing the benefit of your lessons learned demonstrates an interest in the success of your entire group, team, division, etc.
- Trusted voice – being among the first to share risks, concerns, lessons learned, case studies, etc. allows you to highlight your expertise and become a trusted voice within and possibly beyond your function.
I’m interested in learning about your experiences. Have you shared something that you thought was small and it turned out to be a major help to someone else? Which informal or formal methods does your organization use to encourage people to share what they know? What interesting tidbit have you learned as a result of someone else sharing information with you?
“Knowledge is power. Sharing knowledge is the key to unlocking that power.”
― Martin Uzochukwu Ugwu
and working to improve them, your time is far better invested by identifying your strengths and ways to build upon them. I found the book to be both intriguing and enlightening. Around that same time, Susan Cain’s released a book that I felt was written just for me entitled 
For some, the very thought of such self-promotion task is daunting. Many of us work faithfully for years, putting forth our maximum effort, producing fantastic deliverables despite impossible obstacles and wonder why others in the organization take us for granted. The reason is simple – lack of exposure. In his book, Empowering Yourself, Harvey J. Coleman explains that career success is based on more than excellent performance. Success is comprised of three factors: Performance, Image, and Exposure. All too often, Technical Communicators are perform exceptionally, but do not advance in their careers as far or as quickly as they could because of neglecting the I and E slices of the PIE formula.
Knowledge Management Kitchen 