"Buried Treasure" – A KM selling point to senior management

This is an argument you can use with your senior management, when trying to sell Knowledge Management.

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Knowledge is a resource you already own; you just haven’t properly monetized it yet. 

Any organisation is rich with knowledge, and our organisation pays a lot for knowledge already (60% of the non-capital spend according to Larry Prusak). That knowledge is a very powerful resource, but it’s mostly locked away in silos, and in the heads of individuals. 

All you need to to, do release the value of that knowledge, is start to link up the people so the knowledge can be sought and shared.  

You don’t need to buy the knowledge – you own it already. All you need to do it free it up to move to where it is needed. It’s like a buried treasure, buried in your own back yard, and Knowledge management is the spade you can use to dig it up.

The great advantage of this selling point is that it calls on two primary instincts; the instinct for Gain, and the instinct to not Lose something you already own. It also suggests sunk costs – that you have spent so much on knowledge already – and that KM is a modest on-the-top expense to liberate that sunk cost.

Try it with your senior managers – it just might work!