Okay,
so maybe this topic hasn't quite risen to the level of a myth, but it certainly
has been an interesting one to research. What is it, you say? It's the notion
that what "KMers" choose to do in their free time is, at least to some degree, related
to their predilection for knowledge management work.
Using sports as the differentiator, my original hypothesis was that folks whose work is specifically KM will exhibit a preference for team-based sports, rather than individual sports. That thought comes from a general perception that those of us involved in knowledge sharing might also find the collaboration of team sports more appealing than that of the lone, individual-participant sport. It also comes from my personal experience with groups of KMers when I've asked, "How many of you play x sport?" and finding that few, if any, would respond that they played a certain non-team sport. My conversation with Darlene Shaw of SPAWAR also added a data point to the discussion.
So
how to investigate this phenomenon? Through the survey that I created and then invited, asked, cajoled,
and even begged you to complete a few weeks ago. A fair number of folks
participated (n=100), and I'm prepared to report the results today. Kudos to
the contributor in our KM Edge LinkedIn group who correctly guessed the purpose of
my survey; apologies to my KM colleague for leaving out the all-important sport
of ice hockey as a choice; and thanks to everyone who participated in this
blind survey to provide the data.
Here's
the plain-speak hypothesis: KMers don't play golf because it's a
solitary sport. Foursomes, best ball, scrambles, and the Ryder Cup don't count.
It's an individual sport because your score is entirely dependent upon your own
performance. We would prefer to be in the environment and energy of a team
sport. In order to show some difference between KMers and the non-KMers,
however, the hypothesis has to read something like: "There is no difference in
the participation rate of those who play golf depending upon their professional
involvement in KM." (For the statistically inclined, it's something like H0:
rKM = rnon-KM.)
Although
golf was the specific research topic for this "study," blinding it in the best
tradition of market research by providing all the other choices gave me a
dataset to check regarding the other team and individual sports. WARNING: For
anyone who would want to hold this up to the rigor of real research, stop
here--you're going to be disappointed. Remember, you were warned that the
validity and reliability of my results are about on par with the numerous
internet polls you might run across every day. For the rest of you, who just
want to see what the results were for fun, keep going.
Apparently
there is no difference in the rate of participation in golf among
KMers compared to non-KMers. Using Chi-square and even Fisher's exact test, the
numbers are so parallel that it's striking. That is, the differences between
the expected and observed cell counts didn't differ by more than 0.5. That, of
course, would lead to differences entirely attributable to random variation.
Therefore, we can't say that, just because KMers don't play golf, they shy away
from it because it's a solitary endeavor. Our inclination as KMers to seek out
others to collaborate with, share with, to learn from doesn't carry over into
our choice of sports.
Of
course, I took the opportunity to check these results against other sports
since the conclusion so convincingly obliterated my personal beliefs that I
needed some solace for being so wrong. No such luck. Testing basketball and
futbol resulted in the same cold fact: We (KMers) are no more interested in
team sports than is the general population. At that point, I stopped for fear
of finding out that I might even rather be alone.
But KMers are different,
aren't we? Happy to hear from others on this subject. Is there anything that inherently
differentiates KMers from everyone else?
What about Myers-Briggs type indicator?
Jim, , Had no idea you were so "statistically inclined." Interesting hypothesis. I bet many KMers see the necessity of KM and feel it is imperative to success in today’s information age. As a result, KMers collaborate and share as a matter of success more than a means of social interaction. This is just a gut feel though…..
George, thanks for the notion of the M-B assessment. I must admit that while well known, I've never used that tool for myself. One that I have experienced, and like, is the Social Styles Matrix approach. Similar to M-B, its key difference is that others assess you based upon your observed behaviors. I think that holds more promise to identify differences, as we may not always act on our thoughts and demeanor, but of course, our actions do impact what happens.
Mark, you might consider yourself lucky that I haven't revealed my statistical background in my work with Carrier Team One. I teach stats at the MBA-level, and there's nothing I find more humorous than when students find out that Statistics is a required course for graduation.