Auld Lang Syne
I heard it on the radio this morning and realized I never knew the lyrics or what the song was about. I hopped on Wikipedia to look it up. Did you know that this song is used at graduations and funerals in Taiwan and did you know that the lyrics of South Korea’s national anthem were sung to this melody before Aegukga was composed? (I didn’t believe this at first but I did do a reference check in other parts of the Web).
As I take in this new information it makes me think about one of the books I’m reading: Knowledge Emergence. The book contains a variety of essays on care of knowledge, technology and cooperation, transnational knowledge creation, inter-firm relations, etc.
My takeaway: Knowledge is abundant – which leads to more choices. This can be a good thing but it can also get overwhelming (i.e. The Paradox of Choice does a great job of dissecting this). Companies can rein in the power of abundant knowledge by understanding the social context in which it is being transmitted back and forth. (Is this why “Friend Space” and “Blogrings” thrive online? – Members are essentially creating their own context in which their day to day postings are understood.)
So. While Auld Lang Syne reminds us of New Year’s Eve with Dick Clark, the song might conjure up other emotions or memories for others due to a different context with which the song is understood.
How does your company effectively create context around the mountains of knowledge created and distributed daily? Let me know what you think.
Happy New Year!
M.
Mazie Ng
Human Resources
Xerox