Unless purposeful action is taken, information tends to coalesce around key individuals. It makes those individuals incredibly valued but also equally burdened. Processes and projects can come grinding to a halt when that key person is out of the office or otherwise unavailable. I call this the only Brent knows antipattern, a nod to the character from The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford (IT Revolution Press, 2018). It happens when information sharing isn’t fostered throughout the organization, and team members begin to disengage from topics that are the realm of key personnel.
Throughout this book, I’ve been discussing the value of collaboration among staff members and empowering those staff members with the capabilities they need to succeed. But one facet about empowerment goes beyond access restrictions and permissions. It goes deeper into the practice of empowering through knowledge and awareness.