Ask Sally: She'll Know

First off, let me admit I feel a bit self-conscious ("self-referential" might be more apt) about this post, but I decided not to let that stop me from pointing out what I think could be a truly valuable wrinkle on the utility and purpose of blogs—besides, I can't claim it's my idea.  It comes from the former head of IBM's Internet Technology division.

He characterizes blogs as "the first derivative of the Internet," and sees tremendous promise in their ability to fulfill what once upon a time it seemed the 'net itself would do:  Permit everyone to be a publisher.  Actually he (and I) don't want "everyone" to be a publisher; we want people who are experts in particular fields, who are thoroughly up-to-date, and who have at least a passing ability to express themselves, to be a blog publisher.  Blogs globalize the familiar phenomenon, "Ask Sally; Sally will know." 

Moreover, blogs have at least the potential to fulfilll the promise of Knowledge Management.  He thinks, as do I (see a trend here?), that the problem with KM is not that it over-promised but that it under-delivered.  After all, who would argue with the proposition that we should not reinvent the wheel, that we should distribute best practices, that we should distill the exact thing law firms sell:  Knowledge.  In reality, of course, if a KM initiative depends on forced collaboration mandated from above, the genuine experts are the least likely to share their crown jewels, and the knowledge-base chronically undershoots the firm's real expertise, discouraging adoption, discouraging contributions, etc.

Fine; now what?  Well, does your firm have a 10b-5 guru?  Challenge them with a look at The 10b-5 Daily (hosted by a corporate partner with Wilson-Sonsini in Reston, VA) and ask them to out-do it for internal use. An expert in practice before the Supreme Court?  Appellate practice?  You get the picture.