Beyond knowledge management to better management
Yesterday's post, Just Tell Me What Works, discussed some of the weaknesses arising from a blind obsession with best practices. The chief weakness is the false belief that someone else's solution will work perfectly for you. But what if you avoid that weakness and actually do the hard work of thinking for yourself in order... Continue Reading →
Sometimes we just want to be told what to do. To be honest, we all have days when that seems far preferable to thinking for ourselves. Unfortunately, it's exactly this temptation that has led us to make a fetish of "best practices" in knowledge management. However, we would do ourselves a great favor if we... Continue Reading →
In Dave Snowden's view, "everything is fragmented." And, he thinks this is a good thing. But it has some challenging implications for knowledge management generally and law firm knowledge management specifically.Dave sets out his concept of fragmented knowledge in the May 2008 KM World Magazine in which he points to "the shift during the life... 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 →
When are "Best Practices" Not Best Practices? That's the question addressed in a recent Harvard Business blog post by Scott Anthony. In this post he makes the valid point that there are very few best practices that work 100% of the time. In his view, the efficacy of best practices is situational: For just about... Continue Reading →
April 15 is the day we count our blessings and then give a cut to Uncle Sam. While the offering to Uncle Sam may be grudging, it is with absolute sincerity that I'd like to thank the folks who have helped launch my new blog.First and foremost, Joy London, whose recommendation in excited utterances led... Continue Reading →
Best Practices should be right up there with motherhood and apple pie. So why did a gathering of large law firm knowledge managers conclude that law firms were lagging behind other businesses in implementing best practices?About one year ago, I participated in a lively panel discussion about best practices in law firms. My colleagues on... Continue Reading →
Above and Beyond KM 