Sharing Leads to AbundanceThe three types of knowledge workers differ, but all need transparencyby Don Tapscott The days of knowledge hoarding are coming to an end. The modern corporation requires internal transparency, essential for effective knowledge work. Employees must share unprecedented amounts of knowledge, be given the latitude and authority for making decisions, and be self-motivated. As such, most need high visibility into the values, strategy, business processes, and operations of the firm to collaborate and work effectively. What you need to know, of course, depends on what kind of employee you are. But traditional job distinctions — such as manager, professional, sales rep, administrator, factory worker — don't describe knowledge work in a way that's useful to managers. What's needed is a new lens. I am struck by the excellent work in this area by Roger L. Martin, dean of the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. He argues that managers should think of knowledge work as falling into three categories: procedural, heuristic, and executive. These categories are important because they help us better understand the actual content of work, and thereby the extent of transparency and knowledge the worker needs. Procedural Workers Face More ComplexityProcedural work is highly structured, following predetermined algorithms or rules. An administrative assistant follows procedures for scheduling a boss's time, taking messages, dealing with information requests, writing correspondence, managing email, reporting on the status of work, and myriad other activities. Procedural work is increasingly complex, requiring considerable knowledge and experience. Procedural jobs can also be critical to the success of a company. Today, complex jobs have a high degree of structure, including some middle management, computer programming, professional sales, and professional medical jobs. The good news for individuals with these jobs is that functional variety, life-long learning, rewarding collaboration, management support, and fair compensation for them also benefit the corporation. The bad news is that ultimately most algorithms can be automated — turned into software, not requiring human intervention. While the prospect of becoming software may not be appealing to most, and will not happen during the careers of most, this is one effect of the logical extension of information technology and networks into the firm. The theory of letting technology do the things it can do, to free people to do the things only people can do works well — at the macroeconomic level, as technology has not created unemployment but rather reduced it. Some Jobs Are Newly HeuristicHeuristic work has little structure and requires a high degree of creative thinking. The word heuristic comes from the Greek heuriskein — to discover and learn. Don't think only of the Madison Avenue types brainstorming over some wildly innovative ad campaign for a client. In sales, marketing, medicine, architecture, design, computer science, planning, management, and hundreds of other job types, heuristic workers create important knowledge for firms ranging from HR policies, procedure manuals, and complex sales contracts to new products and business strategies. Heuristic work is almost impossible to automate, notwithstanding advertisements for "software that thinks." It lacks explicit procedures and requires extensive collaboration and learning. When it comes to heuristic work, two (or more) brains really are better than one. Heuristic workers aren't just knowledge generators. They're voracious knowledge consumers. They're the engine of wealth creation in a knowledge economy, while procedural workers are the gear mechanisms that make things work. Whereas salespeople from a generation ago may have had high procedural content, the new ones are heuristic workers. The soaring volume of information flow within corporations reflects the growing complexity of modern jobs. For example, a heuristic worker in business development needs sophisticated tools to help build sales plans and forecasts; access marketing information; identify and understand targets; manage accounts and relationships; find resources such as subject matter experts; access product, service, and pricing information; develop winning proposals and presentations; create contracts and manage the negotiations internally and externally; track and manage interactions; and learn about what works and doesn't from experienced peers and colleagues. Executive Decisions Must Be KnownExecutive work is also creative, but its main output is decisions that determine the course of the firm. Executives set corporate values, policy, strategy, objectives, and rules. Executives are employees of corporations and as such have a responsibility to work on behalf of their firms. However, they're also the employers — setting the course, monitoring, and controlling the firm. They shape the transparency policy of their corporations, setting the parameters for visibility into their behavior and performance. Executives also define the corporate culture through their own behavior. The Transparency MandateIn the traditionally opaque corporation, people hoarded knowledge, hoping it would bring personal power and success. Now individuals must be encouraged to share knowledge; corporate success depends on it. Don Tapscott [don@tapscott.com] is coauthor (with David Ticoll) of the forthcoming book The Naked Corporation: How the Age of Transparency Will Revolutionize the Firm (Free Press, to be published).
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