Beyond knowledge management to better management
On this national holiday to celebrate the life and contributions of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and on the eve of the historic inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America, I found myself thinking about the power of symbols and images to convey messages without words. This country... Continue Reading →
We were touring Kings Landing, the historical Loyalist settlement outside Fredericton, New Brunswick in Canada, when a child in our group asked, "What's that?" "That" turned out to be a little white octagonal building in the pretty gardens outside the Ingraham House (visible in the picture above). Upon closer inspection, we discovered that it was... Continue Reading →
The Obama transition team recently announced the nomination of the first Chief Performance Officer for the United States. Nancy Killefer, a senior management consultant at McKinsey & Company, is to be given responsibility for eliminating unnecessary government programs and streamlining bureaucracy. She will be an official watchdog charged with rooting out and eradicating waste. One... Continue Reading →
In ancient times alchemists sought to turn base metals into gold, create the elixir of life, and discover the philosopher's stone. While they may not have achieved these lofty goals, they did lay the foundation for the modern science of inorganic chemistry. Alchemy is about the art of transformation. So is knowledge management. We help... Continue Reading →
I met Lorenzo Lotto at the Villa Borghese recently. As I heard his sad tale, I found myself thinking about contemporaries of mine who are headed down his path. In case you don't remember Mr. Lotto, let me give you a thumbnail sketch of his story. Born in Renaissance Venice, he became known in some... Continue Reading →
What will you do in 2009 to foster communication in your law firm? In some ways, law firm knowledge management has not moved beyond the telephone operators you can see to the left in this 1952 picture from the Seattle Municipal Archives. Granted, our modern tools are more expensive, but at the end of the... Continue Reading →
The path from success to bankruptcy is becoming distressingly familiar to increasing numbers of companies. While most knowledge management departments won't face bankruptcy, they can learn useful lessons from venerable institutions like the Waterford Wedgwood company, which was placed under administration (i.e., filed for bankruptcy) last week. The company was founded by Josiah Wedgwood, a... Continue Reading →
One of the tricks to moving past the paralysis of choice is to get a better sense of what's really at stake. You could focus on how much is to be gained by the contemplated action or -- more likely -- you worry about how much harm can befall you if the steps you take... Continue Reading →
I've been staring at WordPress themes for hours on end and am going cross-eyed. There are just too many choices. The problem is that I've been laboring under the foolish notion that somewhere out there is the perfect WordPress theme for me. Dumb! The reality is that in blogging (as with many* things), all we... Continue Reading →
In our success driven society, it's easy to believe received wisdom that there's nothing worse than failure. Unfortunately, this consistent message has led to the greatest failure of all -- the failure of nerve resulting in a decline of innovation. However, if you ask anyone who has launched a truly successful knowledge management initiative how... Continue Reading →
Above and Beyond KM 