The Atmosphere in which Knowledge is Best Shared

At this time of year, mid April, my students are about to graduate and I am about to be sad.  The learning atmosphere that I create will cease until September, at which time I will start again. In the last year I made a concerted effort to create an atmosphere that facilitated a deeper learning and the constant sharing of knowledge.  This resulted in more learning time -- not 'class time'. 

I have to thank Heather for she reminded me about the importance of "atmosphere"; yes for another topic all together but it came from her nonetheless. 

That thought leads to me write about how leaders create an atmosphere that facilitates knowledge transfer, fun and a sense of reciprocity - - internal value creation.  Organizations are about to hire these grads who think differently and who are far more engaged then we think.  Organizations today are scrambling to create such environments that create internal and external value. 

My principle of 3:  Relationships, Knowledge-transfer, and Empowered People.  If an organization wants to enhance their positioning they need to have these three fundamental things going on every day.  So lets talk about the importance of an atmosphere that enables 'Knowledge Transfer' .

I learn from my students, my clients and colleagues every day and so do they learn from each other.  I knew of a leader who removed all the office doors in an effort to open up communication and the process of knowledge-transfer began.  I was rarely in my office, I wanted to be where ideas were created, where customers were located and where value was being delivered.  Today, on college campus, I am rarely at my desk....  I like to be in my classroom, sometimes "hanging out", class is never over for me because I love to learn and share knowledge. Organizations need to do the same, they need to allow for 'hang time' - idea generation happens all the time but if the organization is task-focused when do we innovate and learn from each other?  Please tell me it is not at the "company retreat".   Think first about your atmosphere, is it right or what needs to change?

The atmosphere must accommodate for how people are to share and learn from each other.  A competitive advantage often lies within, and the organization's collective capacity increases when the atmosphere is right. 

Rhonda