Is knowledge power, or is it potential power? And if knowledge is not power, what is power?
A little history
The phrase “knowledge is power” is a popular translation of the Latin aphorism “scientia potentia est” (or “scientia est potentia” or “scientia potestas est”).
Although commonly attributed to Sir Francis Bacon, this precise phrase cannot be found in his English or Latin writings.
However, Bacon did write the expression “ipsa scientia potestas est” (meaning ‘knowledge itself is power’) in his Meditationes Sacrae (1597).
The first recorded use of the exact phrase “scientia potentia est” was in Thomas Hobbes’ work Leviathan in 1668. Hobbes had served as secretary to Bacon in his youth.
Knowledge is power, or is it?
The idea that knowledge is power is a commonly repeated statement, but whether it is true depends on how one defines power.
Knowledge can give us advantages in certain situations and contexts, such as in academic or professional settings, where expertise is highly valued.
However, knowledge alone does not guarantee success or influence. Our ability to apply knowledge effectively, communicate ideas persuasively, and make informed decisions are crucial factors contributing to power.
Factors such as social status, wealth, and access to resources can also significantly determine our power level.
Therefore, while knowledge can be a valuable tool, it is rarely the sole determinant of power.
Michael Schrage on power
I think "knowledge management" is a bullshit issue. Let me tell you why.
I can give you perfect information, I can give you perfect knowledge and it won't change your behavior one iota.
People choose not to change their behavior because the culture and the imperatives of the organization make it too difficult to act upon the knowledge.
Knowledge is not the power. Power is power. The ability to act on knowledge is power.
Most people in most organizations do not have the ability to act on the knowledge they possess.
End of story.
Barriers to acting on knowledge
Knowledge alone is not power, as far too often, there are barriers to acting. We can have perfect knowledge, but:
- chose to ignore it
- not accept it as true
- not understand it
- be biased against it
- not appreciate its relevance
- be too busy to act on it
- not have the confidence or courage to act on it
- not have the political skills to influence or persuade senior management to take you seriously
- not have the budget or other resources to put the knowledge into action
- not have the leadership skills to act on it
- not have the collaborative skills to work with other people
In our organizational lives (and more broadly in the world at large), we all have a great deal of knowledge and the potential to make an impact, but few of us have the power to act effectively.
Too often, we have little agency and insufficient political nouse to make an impact regardless of our knowledge.
And then, sometimes, we act on our knowledge, not for the benefit of the whole but for selfish purposes, and fail to share it more widely.
We need to move from knowledge to agency.
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If knowledge is not power, what is?
So, if knowledge is not power, what is?
We might say that knowledge is “potential power.” Without the motivation or ability to apply it – for whatever reason – it is useless. It would be more accurate to say that the will and the ability to act on our knowledge is power.
But the power we are discussing here is social and political – the ability to influence people or events.
This power comes from one of two sources: authoritative power, in other words, the power bestowed on us or our intrinsic influential power regardless of our authority.
Unless we have massive authoritative power, we must influence and work well with others to achieve anything.
Power and Knowledge Management
Sharing knowledge is one of the cornerstones of Knowledge Management (KM), but KM is more than sharing our knowledge (and not hoarding it).
If we share our knowledge with others who, like us, don’t have the power to act, we achieve little.
We need to share our knowledge and motivate, influence, and work with others to get things done. This is the fourth level of Knowledge Management.
How do we achieve this? Primarily, we do it through our conversations with each other.
Suppose a time traveler returned to the present day from 2120 and told us in graphic detail what would become of the world due to global warming. We already have a pretty good idea of the consequences, but now we know for sure. Do you think it would make any difference whatsoever to our response?Even with perfect knowledge, even if we could accurately predict the future, more often than not, we do not have the ability to act on that knowledge.Imagine that it is 1920 and you have somehow been granted absolute power to predict the future.
You happen to visit the mayor of Rotterdam and, during that time, you describe in vivid detail what is going to happen to his town over the next 25 years.
Thus, in an otherwise perfectly normal working day, the mayor hears about the advent of the Weimar Republic, hyperinflation, the 1929 stock exchange crash, the Great Depression that followed, the rise of Nazism in Germany with its (for Rotterdam) damaging economic policy of autarchy, the outbreak of the second world war, the carpet bombing of the town’s city centre and, finally, the systematic destruction of the town’s port installation during the calamitous winter of 1945.
The mayor listens to this information placidly. He gives every sign of believing you. And then he asks, “If you were in my shoes, hearing all of this, amid all the other opinions and facts that reach me during the course of my day, what would you reasonably expect me to do about this information?“
What is it reasonable to expect the mayor to do?
When I ask this question in discussion groups, we always reach the same answer: there is nothing the mayor can be expected to do.
Even if he gives your prediction a higher degree of credibility than most of the other information which reached him, he would have neither the courage nor the powers of persuasion to take the far-reaching decision that is required by such a prediction.
The future cannot be predicted. But, even if it could, we would not dare to act on the prediction.
Knowledge alone is not power. Power comes from self-motivation, taking responsibility, acting on knowledge, and influencing and working with people, especially those in authority.
Things Todo
- Reflect: What do you have to influence your life, your organization, or the world for the better?
Posts that link to this post
- Knowledge Is Not Power Knowledge is an expression of the shared responsibilities for the collective well-being of humanity
- From Knowledge to Agency Developing agency in a changing world - cultivating the capacity to act
- The Four Levels of Knowledge Management The relation between Conversational Leadership and Knowledge Management
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Tags: agency (7) | conversational leadership (45) | Francis Bacon (2) | influence (14) | knowledge (64) | knowledge management (50) | knowledge sharing (19) | Michael Schrage (4) | politics (26) | power (19)
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