Blog

  • Achieving Actual Change in KM Implementation

    Many of us have seen Change Initiatives, in KM or other topics, that produce nice slides or documents but don’t actually change anything. It almost seems that the more beautiful the slides the less tangible the actual change achieved.

    Buzzwords and phrases come and go, and there may be some interesting conversations at the conceptual level, but the change doesn’t happen – it was just a passing fad. This “assumed change by osmosis” doesn’t work…even if it is safer because it doesn’t rock the boat.

    When I came to starting to work in change for KM implementation, I was aware of this and realised I would need to think about this and not fall into the trap.

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  • Authentically Learning Lessons

    A challenge for any organisation is authentically learning from experience, both good and bad. A significant part of the challenge often comes from culture, though there are process and role aspects too. Thought I’d share some thoughts from experience in a range of organisations in this - as usual comments / advice are welcome thank you – I find you never stop learning in this area!

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  • The Knowledge Domain Owner Role

    A key role in a knowledge managing organisation is that of the Knowledge Domain Owner (KDO). In simple terms, this is about saying there are critical knowledge domains or areas in the organisation that need to be actively owned and maintained as such. It’s all built on the underlying foundation that what we know is a valued organisational asset.

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  • The KM Baseline Assessment

    This topic came up in a conversation last week, so I thought I’d share some thoughts on it. Comments welcome as always, thank you.

    Quite often when talking to organisations I find that they are already doing some KM, even if it’s not called that. An up-front Baseline Assessment can help to reveal this including where the same processes or activities are called different things, and of course where any key gaps in a systematic approach to KM may be found and crystallised.

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  • KM Implementation : Asking for Help - and Providing It

    We know that cultural aspects are critical to enabling or hindering the implementation of Knowledge Management – a good example being around asking for, and offering, help. This matter is right at the heart of making KM work (or not).

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  • 23 Years in KM : 3 Lessons Learned

    I first came across KM around 23 years ago. In that period half my time has been spent leading KM Implementation for organisations in different sectors (Defence, Energy & Humanitarian Aid) and half has been supporting others in the same position.

    More than once, I have been asked what my top three lessons have been. It’s been a great period of time with some successes and challenges - and I have learned a lot for sure! Follows my top 3 lessons…

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  • Implementing KM: Different Sectors and Three Common Spectra to Think About

    In implementing Knowledge Management, I have worked in several different sectors including Oil & Gas, Public Sector, Humanitarian Aid, Church, Defence and Nuclear. Experience working with each has shown me where they are both the same and different regarding KM. I long ago gave up any sense that any were better or worse than the others, they are simply different with complementary roles in society – and of course organisations within the same sector can also vary hugely.

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  • Knowledge Management Implementation & Engaging with Other Professions

    Implementing KM, done in a strategic way, has quite an impact on organisations. People see changes such as genuine closing of the learning loop, effective communities, individual knowledge transfer and structured & pragmatic KM Plans for projects and functions. This can cause quite a lot of energy and excitement, not just from individuals but from other professional disciplines within the organisation – this is because they all work with knowledge whether consciously or otherwise.

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  • Knowledge Sharing Communities

    I have been working in KM for over 23 years and Communities (typically Communities of Practice, though variations are possible) are still amongst my favourite aspects of a learning organisation.

    They are quite hard to start up and sustain in a good way, but when they work well they add so much value for both individuals and the organisations in which they work. In simple terms, Communities allow peer practitioners within an organisation to find each other, connect, ask for help and offer advice.

    In these difficult times, as organisations adapt to the challenges from Covid 19, the potential for effective Communities made up of individuals working remotely from their colleagues is huge. What does this mean in practice?

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  • Knowledge Management & Culture

    At the end of the day, KM is primarily about culture and culture change. It’s about establishing an organisational expectation and desire to professionally manage its knowledge asset. “The way we do things around here“ (as I’ve heard culture described) includes attention given to knowledge planning and the application of KM activities such as team learning processes, knowledge-sharing communities and individual knowledge transfer.

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