“A teacher who
establishes rapport with the students, Becomes one with them, learns more from
them than he teaches them.” - Mahatma
Gandhi.
I remember once Vasa
Sir shared that there was language which was only spoken by a particular
community, but they were not generous enough to share their language with
others, as a result of which their language perished with them.
Sharing knowledge has
helped mankind to survive and evolve into the intelligent and productive
species we are today. But why do people
don’t believe in sharing nowadays?
There could be many
reasons for not doing so, we are often too slow to recognize how much and in
what ways we can assist each other through sharing expertise and knowledge.
Sometimes our pride acts as a hindrance for not seeking advice from others and
also from discovering new and better ways of doing things. Sometimes lack of
trust and time comes in the way of sharing knowledge. Factors such as
individualism, inadequate technology, top down decision making etc. can also
cause people to refrain from sharing their knowledge.
In many languages the
verb “to know” has two first person forms:”I know” and “we know”. “I know
“refers to the possession of knowledge by an individual whereas “we know”
refers to knowledge that belongs to a group (shared knowledge). Shared
knowledge is systematic in its nature and the product of more than one
individual.
It changes and
evolves over time because of its continued application; on the other hand
personal knowledge depends crucially on the experience of a particular
individual. We all have witnessed many successful projects and targets and
celebrated and congratulated our peers for that, but how many of us took time
to share or learn the knowledge our peers gained?
Perhaps, it is time
now to learn and to share our best practices with each other, because knowledge
is most useful when liberated and shared.
Unless you try to do or learn something beyond what you have already
mastered, you will never grow.
It has been observed
that exchange of ideas with colleagues/peers often result in improvisation
which may not have been part of the earlier plan. It is always useful to invite
suggestions from different people who
can contribute with their own perspective and experiences which in turn
enhances results. I would like to conclude with the following quote-
“Sharing will enrich everyone with more
knowledge”.
By Pratima- Co-ordinator MLZS_HSR