Beyond knowledge management to better management
Lawyers have many special gifts, but one of the most vexing is the ability to "issue spot." They are trained to take a proposition in both hands and then turn it upside down and inside out until they have identified all the potential problems. This is hugely helpful to a client who is trying to... Continue Reading →
"Never underestimate the vital importance of finding early in life the work that for you is play. This turns possible underachievers into happy warriors." This quotation from Sir Ken Robinson's book, The Element, is a good reminder for a Friday, as we take stock of the work week that has just past. Have we spent... Continue Reading →
Michael Melcher believes that thinking like a lawyer is bad for a lawyer's career. He lays out his interesting arguments in a recent piece for the ABA Journal. Here are the lawyerly attributes that he believes handicap lawyers when thinking about their own careers: • Analyze rather than explore. • Focus on flaws and potential... Continue Reading →
The Harvard Business School recently held an executive education session on the global economic crisis. Amid all the depressing news and analysis came the advice of Professor Robert Steven Kaplan regarding three practical steps business leaders can take now to move things forward in a positive direction: Overcommunicate - Be visible, be vocal. Remind all... 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 →
A recent New York Times article touted the benefits of collaborating to innovate. Debunking the myth of the lone genius who creates in solitude, the article suggests that the best innovation comes about through collaboration -- where many people and perspectives intersect to create and refine ideas. However, it isn't enough just to put a... Continue Reading →
Two stories this week from senior managers I know made me think again about the responsibilities of managers with respect to their staff. In the first case, the manager was a senior executive in a financial firm. He said he was struggling with what to do with certain members of his staff who "would never... Continue Reading →
In my earlier post, Is Your KM Department Serving Fish, I asked what a great knowledge management department staffed by only one person would look like. This is not a purely academic exercise. To begin with, every member of your staff has to be willing to step up as if they are the only ones... Continue Reading →
Mark Gould's comment on my previous post (Not Quite) Best Practices pointed me to Derek Wenmoth's blog post on Best Practice vs Next Practice. Derek makes the interesting observation that while best practice is a snapshot of what we know has worked well in the past, next practice is an attempt to take that prior... Continue Reading →
My last post rather morbidly focused on using KM Autopsies as a useful way of figuring out what went wrong with knowledge management projects. Sometimes, however, it's much more effective to ask "What went right?"This apparently contrarian advice is rooted in the field of Appreciative Inquiry, which starts from the perspective that it's ultimately more... Continue Reading →
Above and Beyond KM 