Organising Knowledge

1. Taxonomies Enable Effective Knowledge Management

Knowledge organisation is a fundamental precondition for managing knowledge effectively.

Foundation for Management. Taxonomies are not merely about retrieval; they are essential for managing knowledge effectively. They provide the structure needed to build, identify relationships, manage complexity, and control the flow of knowledge and information. Without a well-defined taxonomy, organizations struggle to leverage their knowledge assets.

Beyond Information. Knowledge management extends beyond information management. While organizing information is a crucial part, it doesn't encompass the full scope of knowledge activities. Knowledge is also transferred through observation, emulation, experimentation, and experience.

Ecology of Knowledge. Taxonomies work in conjunction with other devices such as theories, mental models, narratives, and social networks to organize knowledge. These various methods form an ecology, within which taxonomies play an integral role.

2. Taxonomy Forms Vary to Suit Different Needs

A good classification functions in much the same way that a theory does, connecting concepts in a useful structure.

Beyond Hierarchies. Taxonomies can take many forms, including lists, trees, hierarchies, polyhierarchies, matrices, facets, and system maps. Each form has its strengths and weaknesses, and the choice depends on the specific needs and context of the organization. The common misconception that taxonomies must always be hierarchical trees limits their potential.

Versatility of Trees. Tree structures are powerful for representing relationships such as general to specific, whole to part, or cause to effect. However, they can become confusing if different relationships are mixed within the same tree. Hierarchies, a specific type of tree, require strict adherence to principles like inclusiveness, relational consistency, inheritance, and mutual exclusivity, which are often impractical in real-world knowledge management.

Matrices and Facets. Matrices and facets offer alternative ways to categorize content along multiple dimensions. Matrices are effective for sense-making and identifying gaps, while facets allow for flexible post-coordination and are well-suited for digital content collections. System maps, on the other hand, focus on visually representing the relationships between entities in a knowledge domain.

3. Taxonomies as Infrastructure for Organizational Effectiveness

Given the distributed character of organisational knowledge, the key to achieving coordinated action does not so much depend on those ‘higher up’ collecting more and more knowledge, as on those ‘lower down’ finding more and more ways of getting connected and interrelating the knowledge each one has.

Addressing Ineffectiveness. Organizational ineffectiveness often stems from failures in knowledge articulation, such as a lack of shared language, inability to integrate multiple perspectives, and incompatible information systems. These issues can lead to disastrous outcomes, as seen in the Victoria Climbié case.

Taxonomies as Boundary Objects. Taxonomies can serve as boundary objects, providing a common point of reference for different groups within an organization. By creating a shared language and structure, taxonomies facilitate communication and coordination across boundaries.

Part of a Larger Infrastructure. Taxonomies are an integral part of an organization's knowledge and information infrastructure, which includes policies, processes, tools, conventions, and shared vocabularies. Effective taxonomy work requires considering these interconnected elements.

4. Taxonomy Work Supports Core Organizational Activities

A wonderful harmony is created when we join together the seemingly unconnected.

Strategic Alignment. Taxonomies play a crucial role in supporting core organizational activities such as risk management, cost reduction, customer engagement, and innovation. By aligning information management practices with business objectives, organizations can improve their overall effectiveness.

Risk and Cost. In risk management, taxonomies help identify, categorize, and monitor potential threats. In cost reduction, they facilitate process mapping, resource management, and the elimination of redundancies.

Customers and Innovation. For customers, taxonomies enable better segmentation, personalization, and communication. In innovation, they can stimulate new ideas by breaking down existing categories and fostering interdisciplinary connections.

5. Taxonomy Work Extends Beyond Content Management

Organise your content; there may be a need for librarians.

Evolving Role. The traditional view of taxonomies as tools for content management and findability is too narrow. Taxonomy work can contribute to broader knowledge management goals, such as expertise mapping, competency development, and cultural alignment.

Knowledge Lens Framework. The Knowledge Lens framework categorizes knowledge management activities into four domains: Logos (information), Sophos (expertise and learning), Pathos (collaboration), and Ethos (culture). Taxonomy work can be applied to each of these domains to enhance organizational effectiveness.

Supporting Expertise and Culture. In the Sophos domain, taxonomies can help identify and nurture expertise, while in the Ethos domain, they can support cultural change and promote shared values. By expanding the scope of taxonomy work, organizations can unlock its full potential.

6. Understanding the Spectrum of Taxonomy Work

No classification system, any more than any representation, may specify completely the wildness and complexity of what is represented.

Five Distinct Roles. Taxonomies play five distinct roles: structuring and organizing, establishing common ground, spanning boundaries, aiding in sense-making, and assisting in the discovery of risk and opportunity. Each role requires a different approach and set of skills.

Dynamic and Interconnected. These roles are not mutually exclusive but rather overlap and support each other. The balance between them can shift depending on the organization's needs and context.

Adapting to the Environment. The Cynefin framework helps organizations understand the type of environment they are operating in (Known, Knowable, Complex, or Chaotic) and choose the appropriate taxonomy development strategy. In complex environments, flexibility and new category creation are vital, while in stable environments, consistency and disambiguation are key.

7. Preparing for a Taxonomy Project: Key Steps

The universe, real or intelligible, can be represented from an infinite variety of perspectives, & the number of possible systems of human knowledge is as large as the number of these perspectives.

Iterative Process. Taxonomy building is a journey of discovery that requires careful preparation and an iterative approach. The first six steps in preparing for a taxonomy project are: meet the project sponsor, engage stakeholders, refine the project purpose, design the approach, build a communication plan, and start the governance process.

Mapping and Engaging. The initial meeting with the project sponsor should focus on mapping key stakeholders and activities, understanding the project's purpose, determining the technology environment, and assessing the knowledge and information management context. Engaging stakeholders involves validating the map of the scope and understanding their needs.

Refining and Designing. Refining the project purpose involves getting the sponsor's agreement on the type of taxonomy work required. Designing the approach involves considering factors such as the scope, complexity, and technology environment. Building a communication plan involves identifying the benefits of the taxonomy and tailoring the message to different audiences.

8. Designing a Taxonomy: Balancing Structure and Usability

A manageable work classification scheme works in practice, is not too fine-grained or arcane in its distinctions, and it fits with the way work is organised … Such a perfect scheme however does not exist.

Ancient Art. Designing a taxonomy involves gathering evidence, sorting it into groups, and naming the groups. However, it also requires negotiating competing perspectives and balancing structure with usability.

Cognitive Constraints. Human cognitive abilities impose limits on the complexity of taxonomies. The "magic number" of 7 ± 2 suggests that people can only effectively process a limited number of items at any given time. Dunbar's number suggests that there are limits to the size of social groups that can maintain coherence.

Practical Heuristics. To address these cognitive constraints, taxonomies should be limited to three levels of depth and use facets to break down complex domains into manageable chunks. Familiarity with the taxonomy structure and terms can also enhance usability.

9. Implementing a Taxonomy: From Design to Reality

Between future discounting and the fact that classification is largely for the group, classification is vulnerable to the tragedy of the commons where people prefer looking for classified documents, but don’t invest the effort in classification themselves.

Beyond Design. Implementing a taxonomy involves more than just creating a structure; it requires integrating it into the organization's infrastructure and ensuring its long-term viability. The three main steps in implementation are: plan the instantiation, integrate into existing infrastructure, and secure the governance process.

Instantiation Tools. Instantiation tools include a thesaurus and a metadata framework. The metadata framework defines the elements, definitions, and deployment of metadata, while the thesaurus provides a dictionary of taxonomy terms and their relationships.

Usability and Integration. Usability strategies focus on minimizing the burden on users and making the taxonomy as intuitive as possible. Integration involves aligning the taxonomy with existing systems and processes, such as records management and information architecture.

10. The Future of Taxonomy Work: Hybrid Approaches

The reality of life is that order does not survive the advance of time, context confuses categories, and an excessive adherence to structure can prevent new opportunities being seized.

Emerging Trends. The future of taxonomy work involves hybrid approaches that combine structured taxonomies with emergent trends such as folksonomies and ontologies. Folksonomies, or social tagging systems, allow users to freely tag content with their own keywords, while ontologies are data models that describe concepts and their relationships.

Balancing Structure and Emergence. The challenge is to balance the structure and control of taxonomies with the flexibility and user-driven nature of folksonomies. Hybrid approaches can leverage the strengths of both, creating systems that are both organized and adaptable.

The Role of the Taxonomist. In the future, taxonomists will need to be skilled in a variety of techniques, including taxonomy design, information architecture, and social computing. They will also need to be able to work collaboratively with users and stakeholders to create systems that meet their needs.

Last updated: February 8, 2025