When corporate knowledge becomes invaluable

"Those first one, two, sometimes even three months when you are introduced to the people, the tools, the workflows, the strategies, and the "way things are done." On paper, onboarding exists to accelerate integration and performance. In reality, in many corporations, it quietly becomes an indoctrination phase. Relatable to anyone who has worked in large organizations, onboarding often shifts from enabling understanding to enforcing conformity."

"New hires are not only taught what the company knows, but also what the company no longer questions. This is where corporate knowledge starts becoming invaluable. Because instead of acting as a foundation to build on, it becomes a ceiling. It tells you what to do, how to do it, and more importantly, what not to rethink. Over time, this "do according to the manual" culture doesn't just standardize execution. It standardizes thinking. And standardized thinking is the natural enemy of innovation."

Poorly structured and rigidly transferred corporate knowledge can become an impediment rather than an advantage. Onboarding often functions as indoctrination, teaching conformity and unquestioned norms. New hires learn procedures and which assumptions must not be challenged. When knowledge serves as a ceiling rather than a foundation, it prescribes actions and discourages rethinking. Standardized execution produces standardized thinking, which suppresses creativity and innovation. Breakthroughs more often come from the edges where assumptions are questioned. Outsiders who rethink fundamentals can force entire industries to reset assumptions, and the resulting disadvantage compounds across employees and organizations over time.

Read at TNW | Opinion