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Knowledge Management (KM) and the Skill of Gardening

Helen MARTIN
biopharmation@mail.dk

Introduction
KM is not just something we use in business contexts – it is an integral part of everyday life. I strongly feel that information and knowledge are something we all acquire, continuously add to and use all our lives. At the same time it is impossible to define knowledge and its management accurately as the very many definitions show – as impossible as defining time – both are ubiquitous. The definition selected by CEN

Planned and ongoing management of activities and processes for leveraging knowledge to enhance competitiveness through better use and creation of individual and collective knowledge resources (footnote i)

is but one example. We could benefit by changing the word ‘management’ for something more universally acceptable. ‘Sharing’ has been proposed and is a better term.
A good illustrative example is that of gardening. An almost universal occupation – even if people do not have access to their own land, they will generally have a pot of something green, visit the parks or the country side, take an interest in the changing seasons. Those who have a lot of land will consider themselves as farmers, so let’s define the group under discussion as “people who enjoy growing things. “
All the major newspapers have a gardening section; bookstores are bulging with books ranging from using your garden as an extra outdoor room – e.g. focused on design and water features etc. to in-depth articles on obscure alpines. I’m covering the very basic part of gardening - the love and respect of plants and desire to have them thrive in one’s garden or windowsill.

How is gardening related to KM?
Gardeners fall naturally into Zones and SIGS (to use the terminology familiar from KnowlegdeBoard). They are divided into Zones by geography and climate. Special interest groups evolve in both physical and virtual settings – neighbours who share knowledge and plants in equal measure, and specialist collectors world wide who become real experts on a given plant genus and species and create virtual communities through this interest.
To show the interwoven nature of KM and gardening I have elected to use some of the terminology selected by the Group at CEN (footnote ii) as being the most relevant KM terminology for SMEs, on the basis that they’ll be equally suitable for groups of gardeners.

Communities of practice, interest and purpose- CoPs
What holds these together is a common sense of purpose and a real need and interest in knowing what each other knows. Gardening consists of many and varied CoPs, and most people belong to more than one. Membership of these communities lead to more creative, innovative gardeners as ideas spark between the groups, and problems are discussed and possible solutions exchanged.
A virtual community is a community of people sharing common interests, ideas, and feelings over the Internet or other collaborative networks. A quick search using Google brought up literally 1000s of databases, sites and general information about all sorts of gardening and plants, from those thriving at altitude, to those that tolerate salty, windy shore conditions. Gardening CoPs therefore are natural Learning Organisations in that they seem instinctively to know that competitive advantage is gained by continuous learning and use of knowledge and an ability to adapt behaviour to changing circumstances.

Taxonomies
A taxonomy is a hierarchical classification which helps users understand how explicit
knowledge can be grouped and categorised. Gardeners (and biologists in general) have an excellent classification scheme developed by the Swedish Carl Linnaeus. His system for naming, ranking, and classifying organisms is still widely in use today (with some changes).
Once the gardener’s interest moves from the pleasure of just getting things to grow, interest generally moves to knowing more about the various species and here taxonomy is essential. Using Linnaeus’ classification does require a knowledge of the Latin names – or some good reference books. It moves the exchange of information from ‘that tall yellow plant which grows like a weed’ to a clear identification which enables gardeners to be certain that they are discussing the same plant or organism. Information Management covers taxonomies and also other evolving aspects such as databases, human networks, gardening books, catalogues, databases, etc.

Best or Good Practices
These are developed through exchange of experiences, willingness to share and a willingness to learn. There are of course those who hug the secrets of growing the biggest marrows to themselves, but the majority are happy to pass on tips. Good practice covers every aspect of gardening, from pest control using environmentally-friendly methods to being considerate to neighbouring gardeners. Slinging snails across the hedge to next door is not considered good practice…

Core Competences
‘The set of skills, experience and attributes recognized by an organization as critical to their success in KM’. These competences are evident in experienced gardeners, but can prove expensive to acquire by novices. For instance, the information on seed packets and plants are increasingly cryptic as pictograms replace instructions, and many are tempted by a gorgeously illustrated seed packet or resplendent plant only to experience a total lack of success with the cultivation. For a beginner the lack of information can be bewildering, while communication at advanced gardening levels requires an understanding of the specialist language. But it is a skill that can be learned, and with knowledge sharing it comes almost of itself.

Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO)
It is more difficult to find a direct analogy with this one. In big CoPs such as the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew (UK), there will be ‘official’ CKOs, as shown by some of their chief objectives: (footnote iii)

To share our knowledge effectively on as wide a front as possible.
To establish the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as a world leader in the interpretation and teaching of systematic botany, conservation, biodiversity assessment and management, herbarium and botanic garden management, economic botany, and horticulture.

In smaller CoPs such as a local neighbourhood there will be someone who is acknowledged as a CKO, not necessarily by ‘book learning’, but by sheer practical knowledge and expertise and ability to share this knowledge. The CKO will often establish an Organisational Culture which is the way of perceiving, thinking and feeling, shared and transmitted among fellow gardeners who learn ”the way things are done around here.“ (footnote iv)

Explicit Knowledge
This is, speaking very generally, the information found written in books, gardening sections of the papers, gardening magazine and discussed on TV gardening programmes, at exhibitions and conferences. Catalogues and sowing/planting instruction, etc., fall into this category and most gardeners are avid users of these sources.

The opposite concept, Tacit or Implicit Knowledge is much harder to explain as it is made up of behaviours and perspectives, which are largely based on experience. People will often describe a person as having ‘Green fingers’. The description describes the happy ability to garden with nature rather than trying to impose one’s will on the project. Very few gardeners are able to explain their success in terms of explicit knowledge, it is just something they can do well…

Knowledge-Based Economy
This is a fairly new expression that refers to

the stage of economic evolution in which knowledge is considered as the key factor of production and competitiveness. (footnote v)

This is becoming very relevant in the gardening world, even for the average householder or allotment owner, though not so much so for the windowsill gardener who is able to control growing conditions.
But with climate changes and the pollution of the environment, etc., we are all affected and gardeners are already turning to new, less thirsty and more heat tolerant plant species. More and more are moving away from having a lawn which need expensive maintenance and toward a paved area where the plants can be given optimum conditions in containers.

KM Measurement
While it is very difficult to measure returns on the effort involved in implementing a culture of KM in business it is easier in gardening – if good practices have been followed, the result is measurable in terms of bigger or healthier yields, more flowers, fewer pests and diseases.

Narrative Techniques
Gardeners are invariably good at narrative. Anyone who has been shown round someone’s sad autumnal garden and been given a full description of the glory of the borders last summer will testify to this.
But narrative and oral descriptive examples are really a core of the gardening CoPs. It is so much easier to demonstrate a technique with a real-life example than by trying to explain by means of the written word. Narrative techniques have the added benefit of instant participation – more satisfying than blogging or mailing.

As a conclusion…
I hope that this brief comparison between gardening and general knowledge management has helped to support my thesis that Knowledge Management has evolved into knowledge sharing and that knowledge sharing is an integral part of society. The example selected was gardening, but it could equally well have been any social aspect of our daily lives. Gardening knowledge, like knowledge sharing in general, is much more than just that, it’s a fellowship that extends across borders and races, social levels, education and age.
Because this assimilation and use (management?) of knowledge is instinctive, I agree with those who want to discard the KM term and use the much more enveloping term Knowledge Sharing. But what do you think?

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Footnotes
i CWA 14924-5 European Guide to Good practice in Knowledge Management - Part 5: KM Terminology
ii id
iii www.rbgkew.org.uk
iv CWA 14924-5 European Guide to Good practice in Knowledge Management - Part 5: KM Terminology
v id.

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© Helen Martin 2004

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