At Thinking Faster, Jeffrey Phillips is thinking about how we collaborate and share knowledge in the organization of today. All men are islands (of information):
It seems to me that in a right sized environment, the total capability of the firm is based not on what people know, but on what knowledge and information they are willing to share.... Our challenge isn't knowledge management as much as it is encouraging the communication and sharing of knowledge and information across the organization. It isn't as important "who knows what" as it is being able to obtain and use that information and knowledge.
Each of us can be an isolated island of information (and knowledge). Or we can choose to bridge to one another. Jeffrey is suggesting that it is much more important that the islands be interconnected than it is for an island to hoard what it has.
To play with a phrase, people route around damage. And knowledge hoarders will be more-and-more perceived as damaged by people who are interconnected.