The Power to Remember

The lack of corporate memory or how easily companies forget is frequently the topic of blogs and knowledge management papers. What struck me today however is the ability of the Internet not to forget.

One of the things that the BBC News web site includes on its home pages is 'most popular stories now' in terms of read, shared and watched / listened.

What was interesting yesterday and today was that one of the top stories shared and read, if you click on the link it takes you to a BBC web page dated 8 Dec 2006. The story that every one is reading about and sharing is the same story that appeared in Dec 2006.

If you are a senior executive it might be worthwhile checking to see if your knowledge management plan (which identifies the key knowledge that your organisation needs to manage to achieve its business objectives) includes how to manage the Internets memory.

The story that on the BBC that I have used to illustrate the memory that the Internet has should be a wake up call for senior managers. If what appears on the Internet about your company is good and positive, then well done. However if a negative story appears, do you want it re-appearing every couple of years to remind your current and potential customers about that negative aspect of your corporation.

So senior executives and knowledge managers, can I suggest that you dig out your knowledge management plans and just check what you are doing about the Internet memory.


Knoco Ltd