Joshua Bell, the renowned violinist, recently participated in an experiment sponsored by the Washington Post. Bell,who had just completed a performance at the Library of Congress with the Boston Symphony, played in the NY Subway. Adorned with a baseball hat, the violinist played for the commuters and made a whopping $43. He was not recognized by the passing public, except by one woman who stopped and gave him $20. (She had context for his playing).
In reflection Mr Bell remarked that he thought some people were even offended by his playing.
What is the difference between revering a great artist in one setting and ignoring or even being rude to him in another? Context. And in the world of knowledge management, context is everything as well. Knowledge can be seen and used, or ignored and dismissed, depending on the setting. Often we do not recognize brilliance if it is not in the context in which we would expect to see it.
Standing in curiosity is not always easy, but at least we might recognize the beautiful music in the midst of the noise of daily life.
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