Beyond knowledge management to better management
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 →
I'm about to do something foolish -- I'm going to allow a soundbite (regarding a discipline in which I have virtually no training) to inspire a blog post. Nonetheless, I'm persisting in my foolishness because today's announcement of the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Economics to Elinor Ostrom included references to concepts that rang... 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 →
Paul Sloane has written a fantastic piece called How to Ruin a Brainstorming Session. If you take a closer look, you'll realize that many of the elements that are fatal for brainstorming are also fatal for a knowledge management program. Here are some of the practices Paul Sloane believes are deadly: You have no clear... Continue Reading →
How good is your knowledge management department at surfing? The constant bad news about the recession and its impact on law firms has been sobering. The headlines about retrenchment, reductions, right-sizing could lead one to believe that all we have is monolithic doom and gloom. However, have you taken the time to look behind those... Continue Reading →
As a self-confessed pack rat, I've had a morbid fascination for folks who preach and practice the virtues of minimalism and a clutter-free existence. Call it a form of self-abuse, but I just can't help reading their propaganda. And then, I come every workday to a business that never has a shortage of stuff to... Continue Reading →
Given the state of the economy, it's wise to ask yourself from time to time if you are closer to obsolete than mission critical. As you think about your answer to that question, I'd recommend that you take a look at Rick Mans' post, Should Knowledge Managers Look for a New Job, and the accompanying... Continue Reading →
In knowledge management as in life, folks often come in one of two flavors: the mixologists and the bartenders. Not sure about the distinction? According to Jim Meehan (a bartender at PDT, an East Village speakeasy in New York City): Mixologists serve drinks. Bartenders serve people. The KM mixologists believe in their systems and theories. ... Continue Reading →
Silos are a common means by which farmers store the grain they have harvested until it can be taken to market. While silos make sense in agriculture, why are they so prevalent in non-agricultural organizations? Nearly every business has farmers or systems that gather and hoard data in information silos that are impenetrable for those... Continue Reading →
Above and Beyond KM 