Knowledge Management is dead, long live knowledge sharing!

I just came across this article by Tom Davenport referring to an article on the KnowledgeBoard site in which supposedly IBM have stopped using the term Knowledge Management and have started to call to Knowledge Sharing as Knowledge Management implies command an control!

I understand the sentiment but it all seems rather silly to me - especially when KM is far more than just Knowledge Sharing. As I have argued for a long time - KM is not meant to be a descriptive term - its simply a LABEL, a NAME for a diverse collection of practices that seek to 'leverage' knowledge. But the IBM article is well worth a read as to my mind IBM really seem to have understood what KM is all about. See:

IBM now sees organic and unimposed sharing as the biggest agent in the circulation of knowledge. Its stated strategy is to facilitate that sharing, not through any vertically integrated structure but through the empowerment of its many communities and individuals to network as openly and efficiently as possible.

Credit: KnowledgeBoard