Today is Groundhog Day. I have no idea whether Phil the groundhog will see his shadow, but I try never to forget what happened to Bill. Who’s Bill? Bill Murray in the movie, Groundhog Day. Because he resisted growing up and moving forward, he was condemned to repeat Groundhog Day until he did something to break the cycle.
Law firm knowledge management (and perhaps KM generally) seems to be in a Bill Murray repeat mode in many places. We’ve all found some things that work (or worked at one time), so we repeat them. We’ve also been asked to do some things that we know don’t work, but cannot overcome the pressure to meet these low expectations, so we repeat them. Continue like this, and you run the risk of running KM into the ground.
So how do you break free? Don’t look to new technology. Technology won’t work well unless you have a clear vision of its uses and limits. A tool implemented blindly won’t provide the forward momentum a firm sunk in KM Groundhog gloom needs. The better approach is to start thinking strategically about your KM program. Given the upheaval of the last couple of years, what does KM need to do in your firm to help it respond to economic pressures? Have the practices of your firm changed? Has your KM program kept pace? Is there an opportunity to embed KM in a practice group or client team?
Everyday is KM Groundhog Day and everyday is an opportunity to to break the cycle. Just think strategically.
[Photo Credit: Jimmy Wayne]
Above and Beyond KM 
So true, but I think there is a strategy in between trying new things and repeating the old things. If we can learn to grow our successes, we will be in good stead. What about something made it successful? Is that repeatable in a different format? Can it be combined with other successes? Can the success scale to more people?Each new effort will bring about more successes and more failures. As long as we keep iterating and building on the successes, we should get somewhere good.
So true, but I think there is a strategy in between trying new things and repeating the old things. If we can learn to grow our successes, we will be in good stead. What about something made it successful? Is that repeatable in a different format? Can it be combined with other successes? Can the success scale to more people?Each new effort will bring about more successes and more failures. As long as we keep iterating and building on the successes, we should get somewhere good.