There is a good discussion at the KM Edge Group on the ever provocative question of the “origin of knowledge management.”   Particularly valuable and important are the posts by Igor Palmer. Here is a humble Network Singularity reply.

Thanks to Igor for another brilliant post. Much needed and appreciated. The typical enterprise KM function is filled with corporate reactionaries. From the beginning, authentic KM was always focused on the future. No exceptions. Today, it has been hijacked by archivists, IT wonks, document jockeys, bureaucrats and data base administrators. It is a sad state of affairs.

One place the principles of KM flourish is in the entrepreneurial startup communities here in Silicon Valley and elsewhere. Mediocrity is not in the vocabulary. You either create the future or you are dead meat.

Startup entrepreneurs are a joyful lot, squarely focused on the future. They are like the pre-1995 era of KM: passionate about the future, risk-takers, enthusiastic, failure-prone and fun-loving.

Startup entrepreneurs have nothing in common with the burned-out administrators, former secretaries/receptionists, retirees and deadwood rife in enterprise KM and at KM conferences.

Startup knowledge flow is proximate; there is no need for obsolete KM applications or loopy certifications. There is no time for bombastic KM claims, method hubris, dubious KM procedures, etc.

The startup community fulfills needs for thinking and doing. It’s good to check-in from time to time w/KM to see if they have evolved, back to the pre-1995 era. KM is still stuck, but it is important to always be seeking the magic to get KM back to its original purpose: Creating the Future.