Where large organizations make an effort to boost knowledge sharing, the solutions they fabricate can aggravate problems. Designing jobs for knowledge behaviors and recruiting people who are positive about sharing to start with will boost knowledge stocks and flows at low cost

Serrat, Olivier

English

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DigitalCommons@ILR 
International Publications Key Workplace Documents 
8-2012 
On Knowledge Behaviors 
Olivier Serrat 
Asian Development Bank 
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On Knowledge Behaviors 
Abstract 
Where large organizations make an effort to boost knowledge sharing, the solutions they fabricate can 
aggravate problems. Designing jobs for knowledge behaviors and recruiting people who are positive 
about sharing to start with will boost knowledge stocks and flows at low cost. 
Keywords 
organizations, knowledge, behavior, recruiting, problem-solving 
Comments 
Suggested Citation 
Serrat, O. (2012). On knowledge behaviors. Manila: Asian Development Bank. 
Required Publisher's Statement 
This article was first published by the Asian Development Bank (www.adb.org) 
This article is available at DigitalCommons@ILR: https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/intl/222 
Knowledge 
Solutions
August 2012 | 119
Where large 
organizations make 
an effort to boost 
knowledge sharing, 
the solutions they 
fabricate can 
aggravate problems. 
Designing jobs for 
knowledge behaviors 
and recruiting people 
who are positive 
about sharing to 
start with will boost 
knowledge stocks and 
flows at low cost.
Is the Chief Cause of Problems Solutions?
"If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life 
depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 
minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once 
I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in 
less than 5 minutes," Albert Einstein is alleged to have 
said. Another apocrypha imparts that "Problems cannot 
be solved at the same level of awareness that created 
them." Famous remarks are seldom cited correctly 
but what becomes folklore is somehow imbued with 
wisdom: the first quote intimates that the quality of a 
solution is in direct proportion to that of the description 
of what one thinks must be solved; the second, that answers often lie outside the system.
Irrespectively, what with globalization, man devises and applies in ever-growing 
numbers a myriad tools, methods, and approaches to speed the business of mankind.1 
These days, competitive advantage in the corporate world is often considered to spring 
from knowledge management for organizational learning. (In The Future of Management,2 
Gary Hamel calls for nimble, lattice-based organizations where innovation, modern 
management's new panacea, is everybody's business. The work of management will be 
less and less the responsibility of managers: distributed leadership will come of age.) 
Yet, well into the 21st century, organizations that profess to manage for knowledge 
generation and sharing in the current competitive reality eschew the effective questions of 
critical thinking. Hackneyed solutions to misalignment of strategy, structure, and systems 
still proliferate—and spawn further 
problems—even though alternative 
organizational forms, characteristically 
flexible and open, have come into 
sight at business, corporate, and inter-
organizational levels.3 (In contrast, in 
1 To date, processes for control, discipline, precision, stability, and above all reliability have claimed the lion's 
share of attention. See ADB. 2010. Sparking Innovations in Management. Manila. Available: www.adb.org/
publications/sparking-innovations-management
2 Gary Hamel. 2007. The Future of Management. Harvard Business School Publishing.
3 The common, contemporary paradigm is that all consider themselves bundles of knowledge-enriched products 
and services aiming to meet expressed or latent needs of customers. Regardless of form, all configurations have 
implications for knowledge management and learning; information and communication technologies; human 
resource management; and roles, competencies, and careers in management.
On Knowledge Behaviors
By Olivier Serrat
Good management is the art of making 
problems so interesting and their solutions 
so constructive that everyone wants to get to 
work and deal with them.
—Paul Hawken
Knowledge 
Solutions
2
high-performance organizations, the locus of interest has for some time been purpose, processes, and people.) 
Since the great accomplishments of man result from ideas of enthusiasm, habits of mind and knowledge 
behaviors can help root out dogma—e.g., strategy, structure, and systems; imagine or invent futures; and refute 
Eric Sevareid's assertion that "The chief cause of problems is solutions."
Habits of Mind
By definition, a problem is any situation or matter involving uncertainty, the response to which involves 
perplexity or difficulty and is not immediately known. Complex problems demand craftsmanship, creativity, 
insightfulness, perseverance, and strategic reasoning. However, mindsets4 borne of our education, experience, 
or (especially) environment instruct us to see things in ways 
that do not necessarily conduce efficient or effective problem 
solving, when they do not perpetuate or inflame the problem. 
(What is more, taking a reflective stance in the midst of 
active problem solving is admittedly not easy.) Exercising 
mindfulness, the psychological quality of self-regulation 
of attention coupled with curiosity and openness, can help 
individuals recognize and rework habitual patterns of mind. 
Since excellence is not an act but a practice, each of us 
can develop composite habits of mind that attend to value, 
inclination, sensitivity, capability, and commitment—all defined toward behaving intelligently when confronted 
with problems. These are the transcending characteristics of peak performers.
4 A mindset is a set of assumptions—held by one or more persons or groups of people—that is so ingrained it acts as a strong incentive to 
continue to adopt or accept prior behaviors, choices, or techniques. The cognitive biases it cultivates beget mental inertia and "groupthink" 
and impact decision making.
Source: Developed from Arthur Costa and Bena Kallick. 2000. Discovering and Exploring Habits of Mind. Association for Supervision and 
Curriculum Development.
A lot of people in our industry haven't had 
very diverse experiences. So they don't have 
enough dots to connect, and they end up 
with very linear solutions without a broad 
perspective on the problem. The broader 
one's understanding of the human experience, 
the better design we will have.
—Steve Jobs
Figure 1: 16 Habits of Mind
Persisting
Managing Impulsivity
Listening with Understanding and Empathy
Thinking Flexibly
Thinking about Thinking
Questioning and Posing Problems
Applying Past Knowledge to New Situations
Thinking and Communicating with Clarity and Precision
Gathering Data through All Senses
Taking Responsible Risks
Responding with Wonderment and Awe
Creating, Imagining, and Innovating
Finding Humor
Learning Continuously
Thinking Interdependently
On Knowledge Behaviors
3
On Knowledge Behaviors
Without a doubt, knowledge management has much to do with behavioral change. For that reason, high-
performance organizations seek to minimize the drag of old mental models and help embed knowledge 
behaviors. What might these be? From the 16 desirable habits of mind, a practical, multi-agent operating model 
would see that individuals, groups, and organizations consciously ask, learn, and share before, during, and after 
an activity.5 A high-end inventory of knowledge behaviors—that together would enrich a knowledge culture—
reads as follows:
• Ask—asking questions; checking first to see what already exists; questioning accepted wisdom.
• Learn—contextualizing learning to make it real; connecting and taking opportunities to learn; reviewing 
lessons as one goes and applying learning.
• Share—conveying personal details, roles, and skills; imparting experience, evidence, and feedback; 
communicating achievements, outcomes, and pride.
Put differently, knowledge behaviors anchored in the 16 habits of mind require that every person, team, 
and community should make decided inquiries before taking action, harvest knowledge during its execution, 
and share the fruits of experience—however bitter—later. This is nothing new: all are fundamentally social 
behaviors. The difficulty, we shall see, is to do so in concert. 
The Bottlenecks of Behavior
"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink" is an adage of universal application. It signifies 
that you can give someone means and opportunity but cannot force that person to avail of them. The relationship 
between motive, means (or ability), and opportunity—and what happens where it is not close—explains much 
human behavior by dint of reasoned action. Beyond means and opportunity, the theory of planned behavior 
posits an obvious argument: intention, which is assumed to capture intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors,6 
determines behavior, hence action.
The theory of planned behavior has had large application, for instance, in health, nutrition, and 
environmental psychology.7 In respect of knowledge sharing, however, Enno Siemsen, Aleda Roth, and Sridhar 
5 The Knowledge Solutions on drawing learning charters illustrate what commitments to action organizations and the individuals within 
them might make. See ADB. 2009. Drawing Learning Charters. Manila. Available: www.adb.org/publications/drawing-learning-charters
6 In brief, the theory submits that human behavior is governed not only by personal attitudes toward the behavior but also by social norms 
regarding that and beliefs about one's control over the behavior.
7 For example, these days, environment-friendly actions are widely promoted as positive behaviors. In spite of that, their application can be 
thwarted by the belief that one's behavior will have no significant impact. Here, the theory elucidates contradictions between sustainable 
attitudes and unsustainable behavior.
Figure 2: Fueling Knowledge Behaviors
Individuals
Groups
Organizations
Ask
Learn
Share
Before
During
After
Source: Author.
Knowledge 
Solutions
4
Balasubramanian8 have concluded that the three variables are neither linear not multiplicative: a bottleneck—or 
constraining factor—in any one of them will determine what knowledge sharing may occur;9 also, the variables 
should not be addressed independently but in a dynamic and coordinated manner. Having said this, motivation 
is pivotal. Surely, investigations about motive, means, and opportunity can help organizations determine better 
where to invest resources productively across the knowledge-sharing landscape.10
Staffing Matters
In the all-too-rare instances where large organizations make a dedicated effort at boosting knowledge 
sharing, endeavors generally target job design,11 performance appraisal, compensation and rewards, managerial 
styles, information and communication technologies, and training as important predictors of motivation. These 
organizations should also consider recruiting personnel who 
already display knowledge behaviors: surely, considering 
person–environment fit to ensure congruence of individual 
and organizational values and goals is the easiest way to 
facilitate knowledge sharing among personnel. Evidently, 
an organization that values knowledge sharing and selects 
personnel who swear by this value will equip itself with staff 
who are positive about sharing to start with; investments 
elsewhere may no longer be so urgent because the likelihood 
that the organization's human resource management practices 
fulfill needs will accordingly be higher. Time spent on hiring is time well spent. "Hire people who are better 
than you are, then leave them to get on with it. Look for people who will aim for the remarkable, who will not 
settle for the routine," David Ogilvy advised. 
Further Reading
ADB. 2008. Managing Knowledge Workers. Manila. Available: www.adb.org/publications/managing-
knowledge-workers
―――. 2009a. Asking Effective Questions. Manila. Available: www.adb.org/publications/asking-effective-
questions
―――. 2009b. Drawing Learning Charters. Manila. Available: www.adb.org/publications/drawing-learning-
charters
―――. 2010a. A Primer on Talent Management. Manila. Available: www.adb.org/publications/primer-talent-
management
―――. 2010b. Engaging Staff in the Workplace. Manila. Available: www.adb.org/publications/engaging-
staff-workplace
―――. 2010c. Leading Top Talent in the Workplace. Manila. Available: www.adb.org/publications/leading-
top-talent-workplace
―――. 2011. Critical Thinking. Manila. Available: www.adb.org/publications/critical-thinking
―――. 2012. Knowledge as Culture. Manila. Available: www.adb.org/publications/knowledge-culture
8 Enno Siemsen, Aleda Roth, and Sridhar Balasubramanian. 2007. How Motivation, Opportunity, and Ability Drive Knowledge Sharing: The 
Constraining-Factor Model. Journal of Operations Management. Vol. 26. pp. 426–445.
9 A concrete example suffices: if personnel lacks time to share knowledge—that is, if opportunity is the bottleneck—motivation and means 
will be blocked from having an impact on knowledge-sharing behavior. If time is the constraining factor it will make no difference how 
motivated personnel are or what means they have at their disposal; they simply will not engage in knowledge sharing.
10 Detecting and widening bottlenecks are essential for two reasons. In the presence of a bottleneck, resources allocated to enhancing other 
variables are not likely to be productive. Also, the constraining-factor model throws up insights into what metrics might be used to compare 
the relative costs and benefits of knowledge-sharing initiatives and gauge their progress.
11 The importance of job design owes to the impact it has on staff engagement. Job descriptions usually place cognitive factors center stage. 
However, job design matters for fundamentally motivational reasons. Variables such as autonomy, task identity, and feedback bear on 
intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to share knowledge, purposely in different ways, to cheer organization-wide knowledge behaviors, boost 
knowledge stocks and (particularly) flows, and nurture social capital: these variables are indispensable part of job descriptions.
What we need to do is learn to work in the 
system, by which I mean that everybody, 
every team, every platform, every division, 
every component is there not for individual 
competitive profit or recognition, but for 
contribution to the system as a whole on a 
win-win basis.
—W. Edward Deming
On Knowledge Behaviors
5
For further information
Contact Olivier Serrat, Principal Knowledge Sharing and Services Specialist, Regional and Sustainable Development 
Department, Asian Development Bank (oserrat@adb.org).
Asian Development Bank 
ADB’s vision is an Asia and Pacific region free of poverty. Its mission is 
to help its developing member countries reduce poverty and improve 
the quality of life of their people. Despite the region’s many successes, it 
remains home to two thirds of the world’s poor: 1.8 billion people who 
live on less than $2 a day, with 903 million struggling on less than $1.25 
a day.  ADB is committed to reducing poverty through inclusive economic 
growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. 
Based in Manila, ADB is owned by 67 members, including 48 from 
the region. Its main instruments for helping its developing member 
countries are policy dialogue, loans, equity investments, guarantees, 
grants, and technical assistance.
Knowledge Solutions are handy, quick reference guides to tools, 
methods, and approaches that propel development forward and enhance 
its effects. They are offered as resources to ADB staff. They may also 
appeal to the development community and people having interest in 
knowledge and learning.
The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do 
not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Asian Development 
Bank (ADB) or its Board of Governors or the governments they represent. 
ADB encourages printing or copying information exclusively for personal 
and noncommercial use with proper acknowledgment of ADB. Users are 
restricted from reselling, redistributing, or creating derivative works for 
commercial purposes without the express, written consent of ADB.
Asian Development Bank
6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City
1550 Metro Manila, Philippines
Tel +63 2 632 4444
Fax +63 2 636 2444
knowledge@adb.org 
www.adb.org/knowledgesolutions


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