New Ideas in Print

The December 2007 issue of the Utne Reader magazine, ( http://Utne.com ), listed a number of new print magazines and online zines they deemed worthy of note. I reviewed a few and was quite interested in both the varied subjects covered and in how they organize and share knowledge.

These days it takes a lot of courage to put out a print anything. The Internet has shifted print media forever. Yet, you really owe it to yourself to take a look at these well designed print publications and online zines.

Esopus ( http://www.esopusmag.com ) is one which caught my eye. They describe themselves as follows:
'Published by the non-profit Esopus Foundation Ltd., the magazine has a simple mission: to provide an unfiltered, non-commercial space in which creative people and the public can connect in meaningful, productive ways.'

The magazine and related website include prose, poetry, visual arts, video, interviews and more. I was impressed by the variety of the content and again, by the spirit of those putting the magazine and site together. These publications remind us all to keep speaking up, speaking out and expressing our ideas and opinions. We don't have to agree with each other but we do need ways to be heard. So take a look, enjoy the formats/designs, the ideas, the writing and the continued drive to express.

A Few of the additional magazines listed:
http://www.geist.com/ Canadian culture with a sense of humor
http://www.ninthletter.com/ merging literature with art and other venues
http://www.poz.com/ covering information for those with HIV

Shifting Perspectives

As we begin a new year, we can take the opportunity to begin a new way of thinking. In managing knowledge, as in life, we can choose the perspective we wish to embrace. We can choose to see the world as a place where knowledge is hoarded, people are unwilling to share and teach, and we can choose to see knowledge sharing as a huge and difficult task.

Or, we can shift our perspective. We can choose to see the world differently. We can decide that those who do not easily share knowledge do so out of fear. We can decided the best course of action is not to simply judge the person but rather to understand the fear. Maybe the fear is justified. Perhaps the person believes people have been adversely affected by openly sharing.

We can choose to see the world as full of challenges, as a difficult and harsh place or we can shift that perception and see the world as a huge classroom, teaching us to be the best we can be at every moment. It's a new year, why not make it the best year yet, for knowledge sharing, for developing a healthy culture, for yourself. What have we got to lose.

If you want to see the world in a new perspective, try:http://www.earthcam.com/

The 8 Principles of Fun

The adventures of managing knowledge have kept me quite busy the last few weeks. Blogging did not have it's due during this time. To make it up to you, I'd like to introduce you to a wonderful little movie called 'The Eight Principles of Fun' put together by Michael Bungay Stanier, principle of Box of Crayons. The movie is a wonderful little reminder of what is important as we move through life with some great quotes.

http://www.eightprinciples.com/

It also is a reminder of how we can take what we have learned and share it with the world. Want to engage your staff or your group? Get them to write their most impactful lessons of the last week and share with each other at the end of the week. Better yet, have them written down without an authors name and guess who learned which lesson.

Want to create a strategy that people can really get behind? Write a story of the future as if that strategy were actually implemented. What would the world, your organization, your family, look like if that strategy had been put in place. Now, put it in the format of a Life Magazine article or a Newsweek column. In other words, make it real. What an impact that kind of story telling can have.

Don't sit back and wait for someone else to tell the truth. Have the courage of your convictions and do it. You are the role model for sharing experience, knowledge, wisdom....and doing it with honesty and without an agenda. Do not manipulate....communicate! And be willing to accept the consequences.

And in the meantime, have a great weekend. Glad to be back on the blog!




http://www.eightprinciples.com/

Productive Thinking and Fossil Ideas

Have you ever wondered why we do what we do in life, both professionally and personally? Do you have patterns and habits you are so stuck in that you don't even know they are patterns and habits-- you simply think it is how things are done?

A new book by Tim Hurson titled 'Better Thinking (your company's future depends on it ... and so does yours)' has just been published and the Innovation Network did a sort of review. I was impressed and want to share it with you.

Hurson looks at productive thinking and how we do or do not utilize the concept. So much of how we do things in our organizations is by automatic pilot, that we can be like lemmings going off a cliff. And why? Because we are not questioning why things are done as they are, what new ideas are available, or asking for the real reasons things are done in the way they are done.

We are reactive and passive. Why not take the time to ponder, to wonder, to question?

The following is a short piece from Chapter 3 of Tim's book. This is well worth the read.

Excerpt from Chapter 3

"If you work in a large organization (unless it's Google, Apple, or the like), all your common meeting rooms are probably mini-boardrooms with tables surrounded by chairs. Why? Are you planning to have dinner? Come to think of it, why are all boardrooms modeled after private dining rooms? Why is the top row of your telephone keypad labeled 1 2 3,whereas the top row of your calculator is 7 8 9? Because both the telephone company and the calculator company say, "That's the way we do things around here."

There is plenty more where that came from. When we use lessons learned, reflective learning, and the other KM interventions in our tool kits, we begin to break through some of the 'fossil ideas' that keep us from innovating and challenging the way things are. We haven't the luxury of being stuck any longer. Why would we choose to be?

A Penny Per Search and Writing through the Night

Two sites I came across today I'd like to share with you. Yes, I promised more about the basic steps of knowledge sharing, and I will do that. Soon. Honest. But first, you won't want to miss these sites....



November is National Novel Writer's Month. This concept has spawned a wonderful idea--- to have novel writers write all month, without worrying about quality, concentrating instead on quantity. You might well say there is enough bad writing in the world, why encourage more?



Writing is not easy. We all think we are writers because we use words to communicate all day long. However, how often do you write in a way which changes how someone thinks, puts on paper an idea the reader understands but could not articulate and is so touched they stop to ponder?



That depth of skill takes time. And it takes a lot of words before you get there. There are times writers simply are stuck, can not begin. Precisely that experience of 'how do I start' is what the National Novel Writer's Month program is about. Just go. Just start. Don't worry and do not edit while you are writing. Take a look...



http://www.nanowrimo.org/



Within this site I found another concept to share with you. The site is called GoodSearch, and the idea is a simple one, yet profound. Each time you search, GoodSearch gives one penny to the charity of your choice. Want to support the Young Writer's Program, put it into GoodSearch. Have another charity in mind? Put it into GoodSearch.



http://www.goodsearch.com/



Get started, write that novel, or whatever else you wish, write and when we are writing and searching, let's do it mindfully. We can use what we do day to day to help those who may not be fortunate enough to have the time...or the resources...

Workforce Transitions and Knowledge Management

Workforce transitions are a way of doing business in our current environment. As companies relocate, reorganize, restructure, revise business models and review and change current employee numbers and responsibilities, they forget about the hidden impact of loss of knowledge.

I recently was the guest lecturer at a Knowledge Management class taught by Mani Subramani for Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. The students had studied the issues of managing knowledge during this time of business transition. I gave them a view as to what it's really like on the ground as you are applying the theory to real life situations. And I was struck again by how important the nuances can be, as well as cultural issues such as trust.

I am contacted almost every week by a company going through a transition. Sometimes the transition is the retirement of workers and the need to transfer knowledge to a younger and smaller workforce. Always the issue seems overwhelming to the companies involved.

Yes, identifing and transferring knowledge is a big undertaking, but it need not be overwhelming. Part of the issue is that somehow we think of managing knowledge as separate from business processes. Yet, is that logical? The knowledge we need to manage and transfer IS business knowledge. Transferring knowledge in context is the most successful and easiest way to do so. Adult learning theory bears that out. But we want to make this work separate from our day to day operations. That is our first mistake.

Trying to do too much at once is often the second mistake. We can not take on the entire enterprise. We can do well in the transfer of knowledge in one area and apply the learning to build momentum and create success in another area of the organization.

There are many ways to make the identification and transfer of knowledge across boundaries (generational, geographic, cultural, etc) workable-- and to help our businesses not only survive but thrive. A well crafted plan, leveraging opportunities as they arise, knowledge of how organizations and people change, TRUST, and good old fashioned common sense are the key points to remember. We'll take on the basic steps in the next blog.

Expertise shared online for the rest of us

Want to know how to stop that wobble in your ceiling fan? Learn how to belly dance? Whatever your 'need to know', you need to know about expertvillage.com

http://www.expertvillage.com/

'Experts' share their knowledge via video on a wide variety of topics. Easy to access, easy to contribute to, easy to learn from. This site allows each of us to share and learn from the rest of us, much like what we are trying to do with expertise in our organizations. Decide for yourself, perhaps we make it all too complicated.

Learn a skill, solve a problem, teach what you know....Sounds like knowledge management to me!