I know we've discussed this in class but I just can't admit that I am convinced that sharing knowledge is always the best thing to do for an individual who works in a company.
I do agree that one must share if he/she works on similar tasks with other coworkers and that none of their know-how is really unique. However, consider the case of an application programmer that developed solo a program used by a credit company. He is the only person who knows how it has been coded even if the language used is known by many people. I still believe that because he knows how it has been developed, and is the only person who knows about the loopholes, or the "traps" he set in the code, he would be best to keep it for himself and become "important".
This thought occurred to me many months ago when my coworker told me his friend was in this situation. He had a huge salary because he designed it, and that the company was totally dependant on him. I know it may sound selfish, but I'd probably do the same to earn a higher salary too!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
In the short term, yes this strategy might work, but I've seen other situations of this one person that knows the code being a bottle neck, and soon enough projects start being delayed because of this one person. You can be sure that management will notice how this one person has all the know how and will work to improve the balance of power.
The "selfish" excuse also works but realize that this type of mentality is slowly dying out as people realize that they can learn more through synergies and collaboration than by hording and controlling access to knowledge and information
Glad to hear that your friend's friend got a salary increase for his work. In short-term, it gave him increase. Now, let's think about long-term scenario? If he continues not to share, where is he likely to be? If he is lucky, he may continue to get raise; but he is likely to remain as an individual player, as opposed to starting to lead people (by the way, he may not want to be a leader or a manager.)
Just imagine what could happen to his career if he also shares and coaches other members?
Now, let's assume that you are leading a group of people, as opposed to an individual solo player. You are responsible for your team's performance. Would you encourage your team members not to share or collaborate? How far would you promote your team member who doesn't share and keep everything to himself/herself?
Post a Comment