A well trained lecturer once advised to never begin a statement by announcing how many points you want to make, such as "I have 3 things to say about that..." since there is a good chance that you'll actually think of a fourth (or more) while you are relaying them. I will add to that advice through my experience, saying that you should never declare how many points you are about to make since you are bound to forget at least 1 of them (particularly if you are over 40 like me). So while I have a list of things that I want to blog about in the near future about Content Management, I have at least 2 things to say about the demise of Knowledge Management.
Over coffee this morning, I was enjoying Perspective on Designing and Managing Knowledgework at the Wierarchy blog. It's a two-part series with the second part located here (it was a little difficult to find). It is a long article, so grab a cup and enjoy.
The posting, which began as a article for Inside Knowledge magazine and was turned into a MasterClass, provides a history lesson of the industrial age and the rise of Taylorism (think time-and-motion studies), which is the doctrine known as Scientific Management. If there is nothing else that I can take away from the article other than its rich history, it is that it took a long time for Taylor, and particularly the disciples of Taylor to get the word out and applied in business.
Speed of spreading the word about KM is not the same problem that Taylor experienced, but speed of adoption is the challenge of all change of this nature. As the wierarchy posting indicates, if it took Taylorism 30 years to become the standard in a business market that is a fraction of the size that it is today, then the 10 - 15 years that Knowledge Management has been garnering headlines is just the beginning.
So, the disappearance of KM? Not likely to happen soon....
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