12 principles of knowledge management

Understanding knowledge is the first step to managing it effectively. A dozen characteristics of knowledge are presented: 1. Knowledge is messy. 2. Knowledge is self-organizing. 3. Knowledge seeks community. 4. Knowledge travels via language. 5. The more you try to pin knowledge down, the more it slips away. 6. Looser is probably better. 7. There is no one solution. 8. Knowledge does not grow forever. 9. No one is in charge. 10. You cannot impose rules and systems. 11. There is no silver bullet. 12. How you define knowledge determines how you manage it. Some tools and approaches for making the most of the knowledge assets in an organization are discussed.