The Role of the Expert in Intangible Capital – Can We Open Source ICManagement Practices?

Before the holidays, I was at an international gathering of experts in IC and innovation. Over dinner one evening, I listened in on a conversation among several of my dinner partners about the role of the expert in helping companies leverage their intangible capital (aka intellectual capital).

They were firmly in agreement. Corporate managers could not enter into a project related to IC alone. They needed an expert.

To be honest, I didn’t chime in. I wasn’t really sure what to say. We moved on to another topic but in quiet moments (there haven’t been that many this month which is why I am just now getting back to this) the question would haunt me.

On the one hand, I guess they were right. This is certainly how I earn my living, as an expert in helping companies leverage their unique intangible capital for performance and value.

But, on the other hand, there is something wrong with this perspective. Companies should not need an expert. They should be educated and empowered to do a lot of their IC work themselves. The role of the expert should not be to lead the project and hold onto the “best practices.” The experts need to find ways to build IC capabilities inside every business. ICManagement is too important to outsource.

So how can such a capability be developed when the study and management of IC is still in its infancy?

This question leads me to another concept that I have been batting around in my head and in conversations with colleagues in the US and abroad that goes something like this:

• ICManagement is a critical set of methodologies and capabilities that will need to be developed by every company (in all industries and of all sizes) in order for our societies to solve the very significant economic and environmental challenges facing us today. In other words, to solve today’s problems, we need to leverage every last bit of brainpower we hold.
• While there are many excellent concepts and methodologies already out there, the truth is that the practice of ICManagement will evolve over time as a greater and greater number of companies begin to put these ideas into practice.
• So to me, the question is: How can we speed up the process of creating, disseminating and collaborating to get ICManagement underway in the greatest number of companies world wide?

I keep coming back to the phrase “open source.” Everyone knows the open source software model (Linux and Firefox are two of the many examples out there). There are a few examples of open source hardware (see, for example, Arduino) I haven’t found good examples open source management approaches-let me know if you have any.

Can we create an open source ICManagement model? What would it look like? I have a number of ideas and even an established URL (www.ICKnowledgeCenter.com) that I can offer.  Are you interested? Let me know and let’s make this a priority for early 2010!