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!

Principles of KM, Leadership and Life

The principles of managing knowledge do not deviate from the principles of good leadership.
Many organizations (and people) want a quick fix to their KM issues. What the following demonstrates is that without these basic principles, we will fail or at the very least falter, at our efforts in managing knowledge, leading people, and building solid and authentic relationships.

The leadership Center of Franklin University website discusses the three principles of leadership they think to be critical: Passion, Communication and Integrity
http://leadership.franklin.edu/LL023.htm

These three principles apply also to Knowledge Management and to those who practice it.

It takes passion for us to identify the opportunities to apply KM, to hold the torch as we facilitate behavioral and organizational change, and to continue onward through long term implementation.

Communication can make or break the effectiveness of KM as we build awareness, drive toward acceptance and finally motivate the organization to take action.

The principle of integrity is what I find most intriguing today. We often don't discuss integrity as a key component to managing knowledge. Integrity is a key component to all we do, especially as we affect the lives of others. It is integrity and the consistent practice of it, that allows people the freedom to take what they perceive as professional and personal risks in sharing knowledge, and sharing themselves.

As Jane Robinson, Chief Talent Officer writes in Leadership: The Relationship Perspective on the Franklin University website:

Integrity
Correct principles are like compasses – true north does not change. People expect leaders to stand for something and to have the courage of their convictions. A leader that acts with integrity will model consistency in their behavior and will make the same choices and decisions regardless of their audience.

When actions are in alignment with principles, honest communication will be a trademark of their leadership. Integrity enables a leader to remain committed to honesty, reliability and confidentiality. Staying in alignment with one’s principles provides “notice” on those non-negotiable issues. There will be no uncertainty regarding what guides motivation. It will be very clear to a person of integrity what she will not do. Followers of a leader will not be surprised; her actions will be consistent.

In addition to acting in ways that are consistent with underlying principles, an effective leader will engage in forthright honest communication. Members of the team won’t hear bad news somewhere else in the organization first. They will hear it first from their leader. There are no surprises.

Integrity demands that leaders address performance-related issues quickly and openly, offering appropriate alternatives. A leader of integrity shares information and does not hoard it, encouraging two-way participation in achieving the goals of the organization. A leader shares the “secrets of success." Jane Robinson, Chief Talent Officer, Franklin University

Applying these concepts to KM and to life is critical to sustainable success, to building solid healthy professional (and personal) relationships and to moving KM forward. And we find again and again, the principles needed for managing knowledge, as for leadership, are those for living an authentic life.

The Stories We Tell Ourselves

I did something I have not done before, this last week. As I drove through Nebraska, from Kearney up through the Sandhills, through the rolling hills, valleys and plains of Eastern South Dakota, back into Minnesota, I stopped at every historical marker I saw. Why, you ask (with good reason) would you do this?

Well, for those who are efficiency minded, it did add time to the trip. A good amount of time. But it also added context. I was driving across territory I had never before seen and I wanted to understand the land, the history, the context of the vast territory upon which I was driving. I wanted to learn, to understand what knowledge and wisdom was to be shared with me, from the past.

What I learned, one more time, is that everything is contextual and is portrayed through the lens of one view. I was amazed, actually, and saddened.

I stopped at historical markers all along the way that spoke of the conflict between the Native American and the soldiers who were assisting in the 'settling' of the land back in the 1860s. Each told a 'story'. I soon came to understand the voice, the view, the point of truth of that story depended completely on who erected the monument, who wrote the inscription, who paid for the piece. And who won the war.

I read continually about the bravery of the soldiers, but little about the plight of the Native Americans. There was little context behind the conflict except that this was a 'wild' land and that the soldiers bravely fought to ensure the settlers were safe. I will admit that I may have missed something along the way, but I found no markers that described how the world of the Native American was ripped apart, changed, without any understanding of why or to what.

One of the places which most impacted me on this trip was called Fort Release. There were two markers designating 'Fort Release'. One, a large obelisk in the middle of a circular drive, described the release of 269 hostages, held by 'hostile Sioux', to General Henry H. Sibley after a 'signal victory' at Wood Lake.

The second marker, a black and bronze sign standing by itself just across the driveway, talked about a Dakota peace faction that kept watch over the hostages, risking their own lives to keep the hostages alive. This marker described how the Dakota peace faction saved the lives of the hostages.

These two markers were not more than 20 feet from each other and told different stories of the same event. My guess is that the truth does not fully lie in either marker.

We must be aware of the issue of point of view in all of our work in managing and sharing knowledge. The truth does not lie in the view of one person, it lies in the mixture of many, and the context of each. You might think this makes sharing knowledge impossible. No, not at all. But it does mean there is a deep responsibility for those of us in the field to check our assumptions and the assumptions of those around us. We must check facts, stand in curiosity and not in ego. We need to remember there are reasons why things happen. Be curious, be mindful and be respectful of what is being shared to whom.

I know we can do this well. I have seen it done, experienced it myself and worked to build processes to assist others share knowledge authentically. But I know it takes thought. It should. That is the responsiblity that comes with our work. We must hope none of us are responsible for two markers, so close together, telling two totally different stories.

Of Storytelling and Joan Didion

I have been listening to the CD edition of 'The Year of Magical Thinking' by Joan Didion. As I listen, I am myself literally on a glorious adventure, driving through some of the areas of the country I know little of. The backdrop of Didion's writing, as read by the incredible Barbara Caruso, is not only an enhancement to my attitude of exploration and diving deep, but provides learning I will apply to the knowledge transfer work I do. I am driving, feeling, learning, and loving this experience.

I find Didion's writing so descriptive and emotive that I lap it up like a thirsty golden retriever at a watering dish. Verbs and nouns and turns of phrase splash out all around me. Didion has a courage in her writing so strong as to inspire courage in the reader as well. And there are moments in this book so real, the reader needs courage to continue to read. Didion ponders the details of each event, each action or thought so vividly that the reader is anchored in that exact time and space.

(And yes, this will come back to knowledge management and storytelling.)

Once anchored in the details, Didion is able to describe with word pictures how she felt at that time and you are with her, you understand her. You can not help but make sense of the emotion she describes as you too have had those emotions, even if not as well articulated.

She unflinchingly compares the experience from the past to how she feels about that same event or moment some two years later, as she is writing the book. In that comparison is a leap in learning and healing, both for Didion and for her reader.

She then uses her gifts to describe what she is doing physically at the time of the emotion, and what people around her are doing, which has an amazing impact of the scene. The way in which her physical actions or those around her is described either underscores the truth in the emotions she has stated, or that her judgment of what she was feeling is off. In other words, if she has stated that she was a calm customer, handled the news of the death of her husband well, she will tell you that her heart is racing, she is forgetting which room or city she is in or she presents another indication that she is truly not the cool customer she considers herself. She allows you to see the truth in a way she could not immediately do herself.

You get, from this, the whole story. And, you understand the event, the background or context, the rationale, the intended outcome, the actual outcome and as much as humanly possible, the truth. Joan Didion is showing us the art of storytelling at it's finest.

Think of those experts who hold many years of deeply held knowledge, aha moments, and lessons learned which you wish to transfer. What a challenge to not only get the full understanding of how the innovation or action came to be, but also what a challenge it is to keep the learner fully and completely engaged. Can we not learn from Didion and use her formula?

Consider this: Have the expert describe the background and context leading up to the innovation or event as completely as possible. Have them think about where they were, what they had just read or spoken of which influenced them, what they were wearing even, to help anchor and jog their reflection. Then, in detail, consider the intended outcome, what truly had they hoped or assumed they might learn or do, what they trying to achieve or change. Next ask for the same deep description of the actual outcome, to understand what really happened, why the gap exists and how it came to be. Now, have them consider what they really learned from that, what they will do with that learning or what others might do with that learning.

Perhaps this all sounds too much for one story. But if you want to understand how the inventor of laser surgery decided to go from lasers for non-human uses to repairing burns in a hospital in Vietnam, or how someone inventing a drug which failed for one disease realized she could now apply it to save lives in another totally different area, you need to uncover and develop a deep understanding of that moment. We need to learn how to learn these things from each other. Not to be mired in the past but to apply the new ideas to the future. And I know of no better teacher than Joan Didion.
Now, I must get back to the drive and the adventure which awaits!

You say tomato, I say tomato

Today's New York times had an interesting column written by Verlyn Klinkenborg titled 'Watching the Full Moon Rise Over the Northeast Corridor'. Verlyn wrote about taking the Acela up the Coast from Washington D.C. to New England, something I am familiar with. Though the column's focus was the rise of the full moon during that trip, the first paragraph is what truly caught my attention.

'Riding on the Acela I was surrounded by the sounds of business—the young women whose voices ring out like high heels on marble, the false laughter of a young executive talking to a headhunter on his cellphone. (He makes 175, going up to 200 in December, and is happy to relocate.) Everyone around me was speaking managese, that strange dialect used among the shepherds of other humans to communicate an enthusiasm for communication.'

Well said. Especially that last sentence.

I write in this blog often about being authentic. Yet, communication is simply so much more complicated. Your words can be profoundly authentic, but if not heard that way by those around you, miscommunication will reign. There is so much more to our communication, and to sharing knowledge, than simply telling the truth. We must also consider the listener, the receptor. Where are they in their own experience? Can you be heard, at that moment? Is there a way to describe what you need to say in the language of the receptor, instead of your own language? Is there a more opportune time or location to share what it is we need so desperately to share?

Our work, as knowledge sharers, as communicators, as humans on an authentic path, is complex. We need to identify what it is that is critical to share or to illuminate, how to do so, where the listener is, what language they use, how the message might be perceived, risks involved, risks involved in not sharing and how the information can be shared more broadly. And even this list is simplistic.

We expect much of ourselves and others. Yet, we can not give up. We must strive to clearly communicate, to seek first to understand before being understood, to drive towards sense making. We are the Shepards Verlyn refers to. Let us never stop being the best we can be at what we do.

Critical knowledge for sustaining life

Once in awhile you come upon a site that has a huge impact on your world. OK, I admit, that is a strong statement. I mindfully wrote it to be strong.

Consumer Consequences is an interactive game which brings you along through a journey to help you understand the impact each of us has on our environment and the lives of those around us. The site, created by American Public Media, is very well designed and highly interactive. You choose your avatar and your home, and begin your journey.

Be prepared, you won't be the same at the end of it. There are many other opportunities in our work and our world to apply the type of interactive learning this site utilizes. There are few with so many surprises and ah ha moments. Go, try it, apply the learning/teaching style to your work. And, please, let us each apply the environmental learning to our way of life.

The class of 2011 mindset

The Class of 2011: what Berlin wall?
http://www.beloit.edu/~pubaff/mindset/2011.php

Just think, most students entering college in September were born 1989. Ok, excuse me, but wasn't that the day before yesterday?

Beloit College has published the Beloit College Mindset List for the 2011. The list has 70 factoids for this group of freshman. The list gives you an incredible snapshot of how context is everything. Let me give you a few examples:

1. What Berlin wall?
8. General Motors has always been working on an electric car.
9. Nelson Mandela has always been free and a force in South Africa.
10. Pete Rose has never played baseball.
11. Rap music has always been mainstream.
13. “Off the hook” has never had anything to do with a telephone.
15. Russia has always had a multi-party political system.
23. Wal-Mart has always been a larger retailer than Sears and has always employed more workers than GM

And we wonder if we need to do cross generational bridging in our organizations? I wonder how we are able to communicate at all. We should take heart that we have done as well as we have but we must focus on the multi-generational workforce (as well as multi-cultural). This is to our sustained success...we must learn not only how to work together with different viewpoints, values, ideals...but we also need to know what knowledge is critical to transfer and how we can do it with relevance.

Given the above list and what you will find at the Beloit website, it amazes me that we are so shortsided as to think we can learn to collaborate cross generationally without any assistance. Let us learn to take the best of the best, whatever age they are, and share it with zeal in a way others can absorb. We are not all the same. Thank goodness. Let's work with that and move forward by leaps.

What is knowledge management?

12 years into my career in knowledge management and the most often asked question is still 'What is knowledge management?' The question which follows is often 'What is knowledge?'

In my experience, working to define knowledge management is the wrong use of energy, time, resources and head space. Think instead of the problem you are trying to solve, of the business imperative you are trying to meet. Is there a knowledge component to it? There almost always is.

I believe most business disciplines experience a life cycle from conception through to awareness, to experimentation and implementation and finally to acceptance.
I wonder when acceptance will come to knowledge management. Perhaps it doesn't need to. Perhaps it is the lack of consistent business case.

Consider the risks faced by your organization, your projects or your client relationships. What knowledge do you need to help mitigate those risks? Where is it? In what form? Is it easily accessed? Does it live in the stories of those most experienced or specialized, or in databases around which someone must make sense?

How do you define the discipline which meets the above needs? Problem solving, critical thinking, decision making all come to mind, though problem solving is the most prevalent. And that is what KM is all about; solving problems, making better decisions as quickly as possible, and having all of the contextual knowledge needed to clearly and concisely consider an issue.

In the end, does it matter how you define managing knowledge? Can you have one definition which accurately fits the above scenarios without it being watered down and simply useless? Ensure what you do has business value, meets or anticipates a need, provides competitive advantage...in other words use common sense. Don't waste time, and do explore and experiment. Whatever you do, have a purpose in mind. Learn. Share your learning with anyone else in the organization who can benefit from the learning. Worry about the outcome and the journey and less about what you label it.

New Technology and Managing Knowledge

I've recently made a very smart move. I included in my organizational network a 'technology futurist'. What in the world is that? In our case, Dottie looks at the technologies, trends and ways of thinking currently considered and used by various educational systems. She concentrates (for her University, her K-12 clients, and for us) on those technologies and trends which will impact what the workplace needs to look like going forward. Dottie is affiliated with the higher eductational system and works as a technology liason between the K-12 system and a major East Coast University. A perfect background for understanding what the kids of today will want and need for in the workplace of the future.

Just last night we had a conversation about the impact of 'centers of knowledge'-- areas in where the most educated might congregate and how that will impact talent acquistion and retention in more remote areas. Of course we discussed what impact technology might have on allowing people to work remotely, facilitating remote collaboration and learning and even in bringing the eductational and cultural events desired to those who live in areas far flung from big city hubs.

The conversations are stimulating and interesting, but more then that they are critical. In my work I feel comfortable helping people develop processes to capture and transfer knowledge of retiring workers and to transfer that knowledge across generational and cultural boundaries. But, am I helping my clients prepare for the fast approaching workplace of the future? No, not without the input of someone like Dottie.

I need, (actually we all need), to be preparing for a workplace in 5-10 years that is much different then we now have. What does that look like? Technologically linked most certainly. Even small businesses may be more global in nature as the supply chain is contiually broadened. I don't know yet what it all entails but what I do know is that part of my job is to understand and to help you at least consider....stay tuned. The future is coming. Let's discuss.

Trust and Managing Knowledge

When Knowledge Management as a 'discipline' was first discussed, we were most concerned with documents and how to manage them. We then moved into codification- how could you write down everything the company knew. From there we moved to dialogue and conversation.
Underlying each of these aspects of knowledge management is the need to have an environment of trust. This is an aspect of all collaboration, communication and learning which we have not yet fully embraced or understood.

Trust allows us to be willing to share our knowledge with the assumption it will be utilized and valued. We have to trust that the knowledge being shared is accurate. We also have to trust that the organization will not punish us for telling the truth. Each of these is fundamental to the sustainability of managing knowledge.

Yet we do not understand the dimensions of trust. We might trust someone, for example, to be late to meetings, yet we must trust that same person to keep the deepest secrets of our being confidential. We might trust that someone will not organize their information well, but we can trust that the information and knowledge they share is absolutely as accurate as is possible.

Each of the dimensions of trust are vital to understand and to create. They can be won or lost and they will immediately impact our ability to share and use knowledge. We should never under estimate the value of trust but instead make it one of the areas of focus for each of our companies.