Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing is now regarded as mission critical in the military

I loved this quote I came across recently..
“The metric is what the person has to contribute, not the person’s rank, age, or level of experience. If they have the answer, I want the answer. When I post a question on my blog, I expect the person with the answer to post back. I do not expect the person with the answer to run it through you, your OIC, the branch chief, the exec, the Division Chief and then get the garbled answer back before he or she posts it for me….”
JAMES E. CARTWRIGHT
General, USMC
Commander, USSTRATCOM

The general is very serious about his blog. And he wants answers from it.
In the commercial sector sharing and collaboration is looked upon with a bit of ‘touchy/feely’ suspicion and it really fascinates me how the military and intelligence community look like they will be at the forefront of knowledge sharing and collaborative practices.

Not just in blogging, but the 12 principles of knowledge management Bob Neilson at the Army’s CIO office has laid out give a huge emphasis on a need for collaboration and knowledge sharing organization wide, no matter who has information. It surprised me because my view of the military has always been one of a hierarchical organization which only appreciates ideas which come from the top. Clearly that perception needs to change.

Dr. Neilson emphasizes a cultural change where “need-to-share”should be replaced by “responsibility to provide” as well as the need to use digital media as a means to transfer knowledge.

For anyone interested in learning more on this topic, I am organizing a workshop on this for Potomac Forum on April 23rd.