Almost everyone from government organizations to small and large corporations struggles to adapt more quickly. We push to manage increased information, and to capture and apply the expertise of skilled employees to make the organization more effective and efficient. To improve the flow of knowledge and develop expertise more rapidly, many organizations have begun to look at improving their knowledge management (KM) capability. While many have embraced what they believe is KM, frustration continues because they did not thoroughly assess where the true needs and gaps were or analyze why those gaps exist. As a result, the solutions often focus on only the symptoms and overlook the root causes required to move knowledge effectively and achieve a positive outcome. To ensure agencies understand their knowledge-based challenges and avoid jumping into the wrong solution, a deliberate knowledge assessment that focuses on addressing root causes is needed.