Knowledge is Just Delivery

Show me the knowledge! — not Jerry Maquire

W. Edwards Demming said:

Every system is perfectly designed to get the result that it does.

The myth that knowledge flow ends at delivery (except for raking in the revenue) designs a system that can not learn. A system that cannot reveal what matters, expose our blindspots, and (perhaps most importantly) cannot maintain a relationship with the real world ... as it grows and changes.

Unless we are delivering something to a vacuum, impacts will happen after delivery. New experiences will happen after delivery. Meaning will be understood ... after delivery.

If we are not learning from our experiences ... there is no knowledge in the loop.

Delivery is not the goal -- it is the midpoint of the knowledge cycle. A test. A hypothesis. A probe. The beginning of a new direction -- one that may lead you forward, elsewhere, or right back where you started.

Pay attention.

Many of the problems we are frantically solving today are caused by gaps in our learning cycles. Chances are, if slow down enough to look, we'd see the problem in a new light.

A knowledge system is not a pipeline to production. It is a system that we can design. Every role participates in this design, is part of the learning loop. Every organization benefits from a system that is not just resilient, but thrives in changing and challenging circumstances.

Delivery can teach us:

• Where new ideas originate in the process.
• What people do when given new options.
• Which recommendations were well-constructed and which concealed hidden flaws.
• Where meaning falls into gaps between teams and how those gaps can be bridged.
• The unexpected impact of our actions.
• The value (or or illusion of value) of our strategies and estimates.
• The next step on the journey,

Key concept: Knowledge is engineered through learning.