March 6, 2006

In the last few weeks, we called several senior executives at large companies as part of some research for a collaboration product. The companies ranged in size up to 3,000 employees and more. Overall, the initial feedback we received surprised us and even disappointed in a way.

A Production Line Manager said: "It doesn't matter how good technology is for sharing ideas--people here hide information. They are more concerned about getting credit and avoiding blame than they are in moving the company forward."

A Chief Knowledge Officer: "We don't want people to offer to share information because usually, they aren't qualified. We have found that our people have an inflated sense of worth."

IT Manager: "My main concern is keeping people from sharing confidential information. Our people can be sloppy and naive and don't know how to protect our intellectual capital."

We have become a nation of paranoids. And not in the good Andy Grove Only the Paranoid Survive way. "Be afraid" seems to be the motto too many executive teams--who seem to be more focused on protecting themselves from liability and dishonesty than they are on innovation.

There is a lot of talk these days about instantaneous communication.

There are more ways than ever to communicate--online, offline, mobile phone, VOIP, IM, but less and less incentive to communicate--especially within the organization.

If we don't make it easy and attractive for our people to communicate inside the organization, the bulk of their relationships will form outside--and that makes employees less likely to stay, and less likely to make a major contribution.

This could kill even the largest, most respected companies.

How are we going to compete in a global economy when we don't even trust our colleagues? We have implemented all kinds of products to enhance knowledge sharing and communication--everything from WebEx to shared drives to instant messaging to enterprise search and intranets.

But they are all worthless if we don't trust each other. In companies where Knowledge is Power, that power should be derived by those who use it, not those who hoard it.

Chief Knowledge Officer is a relatively new title given to someone whose job is to make sure that everyone in the company enjoys the benefits of each employee's expertise.

So, for example, if I write a business plan for my division, and you're in a different division, and need to write one, you can use mine as a template and even call me for advice. Or if I've worked closely with Microsoft and you need an introduction to Microsoft, I can provide it to you. Too often though, this role is being used to limit the sharing of information instead of encouraging it.

IT is responsible for helping people use technology to be more efficient.

But increasingly it seems that IT is being asked to prevent employees from doing bad things, like checking their personal email or making an online purchase.

In most white collar jobs, employees have responsibilities--things that must be handled regardless of time of day.

Why should it matter if I spend the hour from 2-3 on Tuesday enrolling my kids online for summer camp before the deadline, if I regularly spend my weekends handling customer fires? And yet, many of the technologies that CXOs are asked to invest in are more about prevention than enabling these days.

The issue that is so frustrating to me is that these people, who are supposed to be enablers, seem to think their colleagues are ignorant, dishonest people who need to be monitored. Instead they should see their peers as valuable resources who need to be supported and nurtured.

Five things companies should do to improve trust and teamwork: