Turning Institutional Knowledge Into Infrastructure
SELECTED WORK 05
Building the repository, then the training to go with it
Division of Financial Assistance, State Water Resources Control Board · Assistant Deputy Director, then Deputy Director · 2020 - 2026 · 325+ staff; division moved from paper-based to fully digital work
Situation
When the division moved fully remote in 2020, much of its work had historically been learned by sitting near someone who already knew how to do it. We had no consistent method for capturing procedures and no central place to find them. Critical knowledge remained in people’s heads, paper files, and individual electronic folders. The division then began expanding without the informal learning system it had long relied on.
Constraint
Documenting how a 325+-person division performs its work was not anyone’s primary assignment. The effort competed with funding agreements, disbursements, audits, and other immediate deadlines. There was no dedicated appropriation or single position responsible for completion. Progress depended on treating institutional knowledge as operational infrastructure, assigning ownership, and making room for work whose value was long-term rather than urgent.
Leadership approach
Used platforms the agency already supported. I directed the team to work with Information Technology to create a central SharePoint resource site rather than commission a separate system. The Program Support Unit led the build on an existing platform that required no new procurement or independent maintenance.
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Made documentation a leadership responsibility. After consulting with my Assistant Deputy Directors, we agreed that each branch would work with the Program Support Unit to write or update procedures, identify owners, and post authoritative versions in one place.
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Connected procedures to learning. We agreed that training modules should be developed by the people who performed the work, working with their managers. The resource site became the home for authoritative procedures, while the training platform provided structured, on-demand instruction.
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Learned that ownership is not the same as capacity. I expected senior managers to sustain this work while continuing to deliver core production and priority assignments. Where progress slowed, the issue was not commitment; I had not protected enough capacity or ensured the work was sequenced to be compatible with competing demands.
Result
The division moved to fully digital operations and established a common resource for procedures and onboarding, supported by on-demand instruction for many core functions. The more important result was the operating capability: knowledge that had depended heavily on individual experience could increasingly be captured, maintained, taught, and reused across the organization.
Knowledge becomes organizational capability only when people can find it, learn it, and keep it current.
EXECUTIVE INSIGHT
What this means for a client
Most organizations carry more institutional knowledge than they have documented. That works until the organization grows, disperses, or loses experienced people. The answer is not simply to tell staff to write procedures. Leaders need a reliable home for authoritative information, clear ownership, a connection between documentation and training, and enough protected capacity to maintain the system. The practical test is whether people can find, learn, and consistently perform the work without depending on the continued presence of the person who originally knew it.
Information current as of October 2026.
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This case study describes work performed by Joe Karkoski in his official capacity as a California state employee. It reflects his personal account and analysis, not the views or endorsement of the State Water Resources Control Board, any Regional Water Quality Control Board, or the State of California. Agency actions described were taken through collective staff, management, executive, and governing-board processes.