Maintaining a knowledge balance

Maintaining a balance between institutional and industry knowledge is essential to thrive in any organisation. Too far in one direction, and you risk being trapped in an echo chamber. Too far to the other, and it becomes difficult to get things done. What does a good balance look like, and how do you maintain this?

What is institutional and industry knowledge?

I think this is a great definition of institutional knowledge:

Institutional knowledge (or organizational knowledge) is the information, policies, and techniques that an organization develops over time. Essentially, institutional knowledge is what an organization knows and how it does things.

Essentially, institutional knowledge is those unwritten pieces of information that you need to understand to get things done within the organisation. Who do you need to speak to for project sponsorship, who can get things done, who can provide space for projects to mature, and what are the internal processes you need to adhere to.

Industry knowledge is focused externally, and there’s a great definition here:

Industry knowledge [...] describes the accumulation of knowledge and awareness of the intricacies of what is happening to specific industries of interest.

So industry knowledge is that information being exchanged outside your organisation, and that’s shaping specific industries. What are the emerging technologies different industries are starting to adopt, how are organisations modifying their workflows to accommodate this, and what ideas are being shared and embraced.

Knowledge balance

Balance between these two diametrically opposed knowledge paradigms is critical. If you invest too much into institutional knowledge - intimately understanding internal processes and concepts, and building internal relationships - you risk being trapped in an echo chamber. Everything sounds the same, and it becomes difficult to bring innovative and challenging thoughts and concepts to your everyday work and projects.

Moving too far into industry knowledge makes it easier to bring external ideas into the organisation, but makes it difficult to get things done. Without understanding how to bring about change within an organisation - how ideas become projects, and the people who can implement real change - it becomes difficult to get anything done.

My aspirational balance is a 40:60 split, institutional:industry. I’d like to be externally focused, building relationships outside of the organisation and particularly through open source communities. Being externally focused also means it’s easier to see how things are changing in the wider industry and community, and be able to bring these ideas in and experiment with them. It also enables me to evangelise open source projects, and identify the best media to support this.

But, I still have to get things done. I need to be able to implement change when it’s needed, and turn those external ideas into internal projects. I need to be able to understand the internal processes for change, and work within and alongside these.

Maintaining a knowledge balance

Like anything, maintaining a good knowledge balance takes effort. For industry knowledge, this means active external participation. Engaging with industry experts, collaborating in open source projects, understanding how different organisations approach the same problem. These are all things we can do to understand different perspectives, and bring these into the organisation.

Maintaining and growing institutional knowledge can be more difficult. If your organisation has communities of practice (CoPs), then participating in and leading these communities is a great way to connect internally. It can also really help to find a mentor - someone who can help guide you through the unwritten rules of the organisation and how you can create change.

Your balance

My ideal balance is 40:60 / institutional:industry, but this may not work for you. What does your balance between institutional and industry knowledge look like, and what is one thing you can do to bring it closer? Let me know in the comments!