Why sharing knowledge is valuable

There’s an old saying that knowledge is power. Knowledgeable people have always been highly valued by society over the course of ages. But what exactly is knowledge? While some may perceive knowledge as gathering as much information as possible, however logically, there is more to it. Much more, for gaining and sharing the right knowledge might provide your business with a great competitive advantage.

These days more than ever, knowledge is a precious asset within organizations. Entire company roadmaps and product lineups are based on market insights and intelligence. Industry leadership is often claimed by those parties that have most adapted to market demands and market development predictions. Equally, these companies’ internal processes and workflows have been optimized by decades of experience in their industry and internal organization. This experience and these insights are treasured and cherished by some of them as the organization’s biggest secret to success. A secret that has to be safely guarded against the outside world.

But what exactly is knowledge and why is it that knowledge is so strongly kept from others? Many dictionaries describe knowledge as ‘knowing something with familiarity gained through study, experience or association.’ As the words ‘study’ and ‘experience’ already imply, it is not just by accumulating as much information as possible, but by interpreting information, learning from these interpretations and adjusting interpretations that real, valuable knowledge is gained. And since effort and experience are required to gain knowledge, sharing knowledge itself is already an act of generosity. It makes you and your company look good towards other, relevant stakeholders.

Furthermore, spreading relevant knowledge - especially to audiences that are important to your company, are a means to establish frequent contact moments with your stakeholders. And as we all know, familiarity positively influences likability, which in return will be beneficial to your business. After all, would you rather buy from someone who taught you a lot of valuable things, or from a stranger?

While before having knowledge was seen as having a competitive edge and sharing knowledge implied risk of losing this competitiveness, the current era of information accessibility and ‘social sharing’ has turned sharing knowledge into a commodity. Knowledge still provides you with a competitive edge, but also allows you to profile yourself and your company with the social status of a knowledge hub.

And when you give something, you might just get something in return.

Joggie Taute is CEO of both Move4U Moving Technology and RedSky Mobility Solutions. Over the course of his professional career, Joggie has been part of multinational companies and start- and scale-ups in industries such as the telecom branch and IT sector. Want to know more on this subject and learn how your company can gather industry knowledge by using Move4U’s or RedSky’s digital cloud-based analysis and reporting technologies? Feel free to contact Joggie through joggie@move4u.com.