Beyond knowledge management to better management
Knowledge managers sometimes divide the world into two camps: content creators (the folks on the front lines of an organization, as well as a small handful of knowledge managers with subject matter expertise) and content managers (the bulk of the knowledge managers and librarians). In this scheme, most knowledge managers are working well behind the... Continue Reading →
One constant challenge for knowledge managers in any organization is how to build support among your front line colleagues so that they adopt knowledge sharing behaviors and use your KM systems and tools. Some knowledge managers try various forms of marketing. Others simply harass their colleagues with pleas for better behavior. Still others co-opt senior... Continue Reading →
Years ago, Saturday Night Live gave us the secret to effective knowledge sharing within the enterprise. In the famous words of Linda Richman on Coffee Talk: "Talk amongst yourselves!" I was reminded of this when reading Tweeting your way to closing the skills gap on your plant floor, which cites Benjamin Friedman, the co-author of ... Continue Reading →
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... Continue Reading →
There's something quite comforting in the voice that reminds me to "mind the gap" when I travel the London Underground. That recorded message has saved me from many a misstep. It's a pity we knowledge managers don't hear a similar recorded message before we communicate with senior management or front line workers. There is a... Continue Reading →
There have been some recent high profile investigations of bribery in the business world. Has anyone checked the knowledge management world? I've heard reports of cash rewards, gift cards and coveted electronics offered by various KM departments to induce knowledge workers to participate in KM systems. In what way are these not bribes? Here's the... Continue Reading →
How often do you hear someone say after a disaster, "if we only knew about the warning signs..."? And then you discover that the warnings were there all along, but we missed them. In other words, the information was available, but the right people did not find it and were unable to act on it. ... Continue Reading →
What's one thing that will doom your law firm knowledge management program? Your knowledge manager's inability to question premises. (To be honest, this can be a problem with most disciplines, but I don't presume to speak to any other areas of expertise.) For example, lawyers (being people who value precedent) have historically placed a high... Continue Reading →
One of the thorniest problems we've faced in knowledge management has been how to explain what we do. Ray Sims set out to determine if there was a definition of knowledge management that could help with this. What he discovered was not one or two, but rather 62 definitions of KM. That's more than one... Continue Reading →
Navel gazing is a distressingly popular activity among knowledge managers. (To be honest, even I have indulged in it from time to time.) I'm not sure exactly what drives this tendency, although I expect it may have something to do with the fact that we aren't always able to explain succinctly what it is we... Continue Reading →
Above and Beyond KM 