Wednesday, August 07, 2002

It's knowledge sharing not knowledge management. []Bob Buckman is one of the founding father's of the KM movement. I've got to know him a little through his association with the [Henley Knowledge Management Forum]. Here is what he had to say to me in a recent e-mail on his return from speaking at the KM Asia 2002 conference in Singapore. "By the way, I am hearing more and more that 'Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing' is starting to replace 'Knowledge Management' as the term to describe what we are doing. This only seems natural to me, but it might be a leap for others." And this [interview] with him in the Singapore Business Times on It's KS, not KM says a lot more on the subject. [Gurteen Knowledge-Log] What if we all agreed to stop staying "knowledge management" and replaced it with knowledge sharing? Everyone I know who has devoted more the 30 nanoseconds to thinking about knowledge in the organization hates the term knowledge management. If we all start fixing our language on these weblogs maybe we'll help shift usage [McGee's Musings] 6:28:16 PM    trackback []     Articulate []

Knowledge sharing is a two-way phenomenon. Giving in order to receive. This item "Understanding and using scoped zones of discussion" - by Jon Udel on discussion on the web is well worth reading in its own right but the reason I am posting it here is for one particular piece entitled Giving in order to receive . Here is a little of what Jon says: It's always tempting to post a message that asks: "Does anybody know how HTTP authentication works?" But you owe your intranet colleagues (and yourself) more consideration than that. And in wider contexts, this kind of naive plea will be ignored if not actively ridiculed. Instead, summarize what you know already, cite supporting evidence, frame the issues at stake clearly, and ask specific questions. Here's an example of what I mean: "I've been researching HTTP authentication in order to solve the following problem: . Along the way, I've learned some useful things: . Based on this information, it seems to me that this plan will work: . Comments and clarifications are welcome and appreciated." In my opinion, although seemingly obvious - it is something we tend to overlook and is a stunning example of how to encourage knowledge sharing. I get dozens of e-mails each month asking for help - most of them I do not have the time to answer and many of them are of the 'one-liner - straight to the point' variety as in Jon's example above. Others give more detail - they tell me something I did not know, they offer me information in return - such as a final report - and they are personal so that I can relate to the sender. Guess which ones I am more inclined to reply to? [] We should think twice when we complain that other people do not want to share and reflect on how our own behavior may be part of the problem. Actually that's a pretty good rule for many of the problems we face in life! [Gurteen Knowledge-Log] [emphasis added] Amen to that! How many failures in knowledge management can be laid at the feet of one-sided notions of knowledge sharing? Do you ever wonder how many people in positions of power were lunchroom bullies who never read Fulghum's All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten   [McGee's Musings] 6:21:44 PM    trackback []     Articulate []

Knowledge sharing and understanding knowledge work. Is Knowledge Sharing Natural?. "The most direct approach isn't always the best." So says the Chinese-cookie fortune that I've got taped to my display. It jumps out at me this morning as I browse the weblogs of two gentlemen for whom information flow is a normal course of nature. "...as I entered the business world, it simply made no sense to me that computers were being used solely for computing and "data processing"; the collaborative online work environment that I'd taken for granted, that I'd used day in and day out, was simply missing in action. Our work lives are all about interpersonal connections, our businesses processes are structured into connections amongst people and systems that must be coordinated. What better use of technology than to help people to connect?" [Ray Ozzie] Ya see, Ray's one who "gets it" when the topic turns to sharing information. He sees blogs, Groove and other tools as enabling individuals, allowing them to working together. As such, he doesn't see a need for defined process changes to take advantage of all this wonderful stuff, it should just come naturally. We've got our set of sharing technologies here, being added to an long-existing workflow. Given the entrenchment of "the old way" of doing things and the day-to-day pressure of metric-driven managers, "what comes natural" for many people is "what we've always done." As Jon Udell puts it, "you can't swim upstream against what people naturally want to do." Jon sees more and more people discovering the wonderful world of sharing - and perhaps that's what it needs to be, discovered instead of having it forced upon them. Maybe some of us have been trying too hard to take the direct approach, holding classes and running reports while "implementing" a new "methodology." Have you had more success with "formal" methods of rolling out a set of KM practices and technologies or by simply showing those who appear eager and letting them evangelize it as they go along? [Steven Vore: KM] My hypothesis is that many of the failures in rolling out KM practices and technologies follows from a workflow model that incorrectly tries to cram knowledge work into some kind of assembly line model of the work. The flaw is that this approach focuses on the visible and least important 10% of the process and is blind to the 90% that matters. This 90% contains both the individual mental processes that go into creating new knowledge work products and the social interactions in context that move too quickly to be seen without careful observation and attention. [McGee's Musings] 6:20:39 PM    trackback []     Articulate []

Sharing is a community responsibility. Knowledge sharing and responsibility. Key insight for me: the sharing of knowledge, and the cooperative application of new technologies are part of the responsibility of belonging to a community of practice. First time I've seen the notion of knowledge sharing articulated as a responsibility of community membership. [McGee's Musings] [Ron Lusk: Ron's K-Logs] » Hmmm... I guess it's one of those point of view things.  It seems obvious when I think about it that if you are really a member of a community then sharing is an implicit responsibility.  Whilst the value of what you have to share will vary over time, you will want to share to enable the community to grow.  Otherwise you're not really a member. For me it's the difference between carrying a Union card and going to meetings (I never did either but hopefully that doesn't hurt my point too much).  If you don't go to the meetings then you're not really part of the Union.   [Curiouser and curiouser!] 6:12:03 PM    trackback []     Articulate []

Ambrose Bierce. "Admiration, n.: Our polite recognition of another's resemblance to ourselves." [Quotes of the Day] [The Universal Church Of Cosmic Uncertainty] 6:11:27 PM    trackback []     Articulate []