Organizations know more than they learn: the hidden costs of single-use knowledge

Abstract

To explore why organizations increasingly generate knowledge that supports immediate action but fails to contribute to sustained organizational learning. The article introduces the concept of single-use knowledge and examines how digitalization and artificial intelligence (AI) amplify the gap between knowledge creation and learning persistence. The article develops a conceptual perspective informed by learning organization theory, autopoietic approaches to organizational learning and recent work on digitalization. It synthesizes these perspectives to explain how breaks in learning cycles can result in knowledge being used once but failing to become embedded within future organizational practice. Organizations are becoming increasingly effective at generating knowledge but less effective at ensuring that knowledge remains alive through ongoing cycles of questioning, action and reflection. The article identifies single-use knowledge as a distinct learning challenge that emerges when knowledge is applied but not embedded. In digital environments, this process contributes to the accumulation of low-value information assets and digital residue. The article is conceptual and does not empirically test the proposed framework. Future research should examine the prevalence of single-use knowledge across different organizational contexts and explore methods for measuring learning persistence and knowledge reuse over time. Leaders should focus less on knowledge creation and more on learning persistence. The article proposes a diagnostic framework to help organizations identify where learning breaks down and recommends measuring knowledge reuse, conducting learning reviews and assessing information assets according to their continuing learning value. As AI and digital technologies accelerate the production of information, organizations face growing challenges associated with storing and managing low-value digital assets. Improving learning persistence can reduce digital waste, support more sustainable information practices and contribute to wider digital decarbonization objectives. The article introduces single-use knowledge as a new lens for understanding why organizations often know more than they learn. It extends learning organization thinking by linking learning persistence to digitalization and demonstrates how unrealized learning can create both organizational and environmental costs.