Recently I interviewed a number of employees at my company to see how they use our Social Learning platform. There were a number of things that I was able to take from those discussions which I continue to write about. One of them is the ‘ownership of information.’
We live in a world of posession:
“If I create it, it is mine. I own it. If it is wrong or is destructive, I must correct it. If it is right or produces good results, I take the credit.”
“If you create it, it is yours. You own it. If it is wrong or is destructive, you must correct it. If it is right or produces good results, you get the credit.”
Times have changed. Information is now mass produced. Unlike land or a physical object, information is much more free flowing, and in most regards it is not exclusive to anyone. I can know the same thing you know. If I think of something, do I own that thought? What if you think of the same thing? Who owns that thought, that information at that time?
The information we create is ours:
“If I create it, it is ours. We own it. If it is wrong or is destructive, we must correct it. If it is right or produces good results, we take the credit.”
“If you create it, it is ours. We own it. If it is wrong or destructive, we must correct it. If it is right or produces good results, we take the credit.”
Why is this? Let’s ask the question, “Why do we have working meetings within organizations?” (as opposed to informational meetings.) Because it gives us the opportunity to get together and talk and share. Suddenly, my thoughts and information and experience, and your thoughts and information and experience, and another’s thoughts and information and experience, when combined together become more powerful, more effective than if they were taken alone. Instead of adding them together, when we combine them we multiply them and the answer is much more powerful. Suddenly, the information becomes ours – not mine or your’s or the other person’s. But we all own it. We all are responsible for it.
Social Learning creates a repository of information and learning. Who owns the repository? The company or organization or the group. Who owns the information in there? Every member involved. Even as I write this, it ceases to become ‘mine’ the instant you take it in to your mind and apply it to yourself. You probably have some thoughts about this concept. Maybe you can add to it. If you can, I recommend you share your thoughts with us using the comments.
This is how Social Learning works. If you can add to it, correct it, clarify it, please do. We learn from each other this way. The information becomes more correct, more relevant the more we all add our insights into it.
So if you see some information that is incorrect in a wiki, feel empowered to go in and change it and correct it. If you have a question about it, use the comments and the owner will be notified. Hold the discussion in the comments. That way, when someone else has the same thought you did (and someone will) they will see the logic of why you and the other person decided to present the information in the way you did.
This is the Democratization of Learning.
Some people have mentioned that they feel badly if they change the information because it may make the creator look badly. If we really feel that way, are we saying that everyone should look infallible? Are you? If this was about them, or if it was about you and the egos in play we might have a different discussion. But this has nothing to do with you or me or how this makes us look. It has to do with learning – how we make it more relevant, accurate, applicable. When that is the goal, egos no longer matter, only the learning itself and what we can do with it.
Suggestions:
- When you see a document that is not well formatted, take a quick minute to format it for better, quicker reading by others.
- If you see information that is wrong, correct it.
- If you see that you can add to the information, do it.
- When you find information that is old, update it.
- Correct mispellings.
- Verify information with those who have created the information.
- Add your voice in the information.
We all own it. We all are responsible for it.
