Why Knowledge Matters

The Magazine of Smart People

It's this week!...just on the wire this morning, Smart People Magazine debuts this week on Wednesday April 15.

Here's what I heard from Jerry Ash, Publisher:

Smart People turns KM inside out, moves the knowledge dialogue from corporate management to the mainstream and targets a digital audience -- a combination of the digital pioneers, the grown up digitals and guys like me, the catching up digitals.

The aim of the magazine is to spread the news about the 'knowledge factor' and to help ordinary smart people capitalize on knowledge in living, learning, choosing, creating and working --- which is the five sections of the magazine (only four in the first edition). The goal also is to groom the digitals early to play key roles in KM where the environment is right and the systems are in place.

In developing Smart People, we have also kept in mind the lessons learned in knowledge management. The magazine has been developed collaboratively by some 65 volunteers coming from all points including the social networks where I've made lots of new friends. The magazine is 'new media' not only because it is delivered online in three versions -- flip-book, html and pdf -- but because we have established several feedback channels in some of the most prominent social networks including Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin and Twitter. Volunteer representatives of Smart People magazine are working there to help 'prosumers' -- people who don't want to be sold but to participate in the development of the product -- join in the fun of developing the content and choosing the direction of Smart People magazine.

We're doing everything 'differently' with this magazine, just as we would encourage people and organizations to do the same. And so, we are what we preach.

I'd tell you about the Smart People Community that is forming in the background, but I fear that would be too much for you to take all at once!

The first issue is free and then we dare promote paid subscriptions. 
I'd love to have you along during this Beta Year as we find ourselves, but at least review the first issue and then use one of the SN channels to give us feedback. Of course, you know me, so if you'd prefer to do it personally, you have my new phone number.

Please follow me. I haven't left KM, I'm taking it to new places!

Jerry
Publisher, Smart People magazine
Former managing editor, Inside Knowledge magazine Founder, Association of Knowledgework

Coming this week at:  Smart People Magazine

Smart People

It has been my pleasure to know - for the past 10 years or so - Jerry Ash.

Jerry is a thought leader in Knowledge Management. Jerry founded the Association of Kowledgework in the late 1990s. AOK is a Community of Communities of Practice that brought people together to discuss various aspects of KM. Probably most famous for the "Star Series" discussions (nearly 50 of them), Jerry was either connected enough, wise enough, or just gutsy enough to ask and get the KM leaders of our time to engage with the members of the AOK community. It was unprecedented.

As happens with bright individuals, Jerry was snatched up and given a writer and then editor position with Inside Knowledge Magazine, where for the past few years he has been writing articles on various aspects of Knowledge Management and being Editor for a little more than a year.

But now in approximately another 2 weeks, Jerry will be launching a new project; it's an exciting new magazine called Smart People.

In his own words, Jerry says,

....Smart People magazine will be a 'new media' publication. I think the most important feature of new media is that its readers be given the ability to be prosumers, not consumers. Prosumers aren't passive, they're active and the networks are there to help them decide what the future content and purpose of Smart People will be.

We've also learned that the Net Generation we see as our biggest potential market is the prosuming type. At least that's what Don Tapscott says in his new book Grown Up Digital and his opinion is backed by $4 million of research he did for a consortium of clients. Not only is Don Tapscott one of the feature writers for the first issue of Smart People, his book provides us with the best market research we could buy.

We want Smart People magazine to reflect who our followers are, what they think. While we think we know our intended audience and we have an idea what will be interesting to them, only our audience knows for sure! And so, we are looking to you in these discussions to shape the future of Smart People magazine.

That's not a new idea for us. In fact, the very appearance of the first issue is the result of the collaborative process we chose to involve some 60 volunteers in an open workspace.

This is an exciting time in human development. We are all so fortunate to be a part of it. And Smart People magazine -- *powered by smart people* -- will play an important roll. Let the fun begin!

While the collaborative aspect of the magazine is certainly intriguing, and probably groundbreaking, what I like about it is that it focuses on the people. Knowledge Management is always about the people - whether they use/capture/share - knowledge at home, work or play...It's the individual at the use level that is smart and finding ways to be/work/play even smarter.

Good luck to Jerry and to Smart People Magazine - debuting in Mid April.

History Lessons - Part 1

While certainly not a history expert, I confess to reading history books, and am fascinated with the things that it can teach us - even in the digital age. So I was pleased to bump into Nick Milton's post this past week, Knowledge Management in the Age of Navigation.

Nick's selection of early navigation - 15th century - with explorers from Spain, Portugal and England reaching out beyond known boundaries has obvious present day relevancy.

There are 4 primary take-aways (for me) from this particular history lesson - and as Nick reminds - that apply to the Project Manager of today (though I think this could even apply to any manager or leader). 

Key are: a. Learn Before - study the current knowledge and work with and collaborate with peers, b. Learn During through after action reviews and journals (blogs), and c. Learn After by bringing back knowledge, reviewing, analyzing and making it available for the future. Full descriptions at the link above which I recommend as my notes do not do it justice.

The fourth key to this lesson, which I see as critical, is having a person to spearhead the knowledge capture and evolution. In Nick's navigation study, Henry the Navigator of Portugal, created the Sagres School. This became the center of knowledge related to navigation. At Sagres, captains could study the latest available knowledge and talk with other knowledgeable captains before their expeditions....and then returning back with lessons learned, share them with their successors.In the end, this gave Portugal the competitive advantage in the race for territory at that time.

Centuries later, as I've briefly cataloged in What Is KM, U.S. navigation knowingly or unknowingly followed the Sagres model when Matthew Maury created his book of maps and navigation Sailing Directions to capture and report on swifter sailing routes to South America (story courtesy of James Burke). Similarly he relied on captains experience to continue to enhance his knowledgebase - providing competitive advantage.

Nick Milton has a few of these type lessons that I intend to study further in addition to some of the work that they are doing at Knoco...they not only provide a great setting for lessons in Knowledge Management, but in the context of stories, they are also easy to pass on along with the lesson.

 

Knowledge Management Sites

I know I once blogged that I would never join a group that would have me as a member (paraphrase of Groucho Marx's famous line). I'm going to have to eat my words.  I posted those thoughts after Pumacy Technologies, a German-based company included me in 50 KM blogs they 'researched' - and did so with what I thought was a limited plan/scope.

But I noticed that I was getting some hits on my page as a referral from Lucas McDonnell's knowledge connects people site.  Back in February of this year, he posted 66 notable knowledge management sites - and it includes Why Knowledge Management. I'm grateful for the recognition - but even more so when I tracked back through history to find that Lucas initially started with a list of 26 KM sites, then after further review put together a list of 50 sites, before his more recent post, that include the 66. Mr. McDonnell appears to be keeping his eye on the ball.

It's a great post. What I liked about it was that I found on the list sites I expected to be there by either their creativity, thought-leadership, or shear prolificacy (yeah, it's a word even if Typepad and Firefox spell check doesn't like it). The post included the 5 - 10 sites that I try to follow (or at least visit most frequently). Yet even more meaningful was other sites that I was not aware of that I now have a certain level of confidence in have been seen by Lucas and added with some thought. I have a lot of reading ahead, and I hope he keeps up with regular postings.    

Knowledge Management in an Overloaded World

The inundation of information that I'm faced with in a single day through sources such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, email....etc....etc....etc. finds me thinking about two key things more than anything...Information Overload and people - and how it is possible to remain focused on knowledge-based productivity and the productivity of tomorrow.

Basex posits that Information Overload has contributed to the current worldwide economic crisis, and it is easy to see the correlation...with so much information available - and much of it in monotone importance - it's difficult to make a decision that you know will work.

I was reading a brief at Rhea Theme related to KM Initiatives and Practices this morning that had me thinking about less (mental) clutter, and more substance as it relates to the knowledgeworker. The article essential pulls a few points from Karl Wiig's 2004 book, People-Focused Knowledge Management, How Effective Decision Making Leads to Corporate Success.

The key points in the particular post were:

Foster Communities and Networks of Practice - by facilitating collaboration and socializing of people with similar responsibilities, the sharing of insights and knowledge helps keep the focus on the priorities, and less on the distractions.

Conduct Town Meetings and Knowledge Cafes - Town meetings being assemblies of many like-minded individuals (or employees) who gather to be briefed and then discuss, and Knowledge Cafes referring to gatherings where a topic is discussed by small groups, and then the groups are shuffled as the topic continues to be discussed.  Again this type of activity gets the individual thinking and creating on a topic and less distracted. 

Build and Operate Expert Networks - I think each knowledgeworker intrinsically does this to some extent, but by planning and developing one's expert network...and organizationally encouraging and even setting up a means to do this, puts people in touch with the expert knowledge that they need to increase effectiveness.

Capture and Transfer Expert Know-How - this deals with the idea of capturing and communicating know-how to other employees/peers to help develop them, whether this be by shadowing, video capture, discussion or training, and can bring along less experienced workers quickly.

Capture and Transfer Expert Concepts to other Practitioners - this is similar to the previous idea, except instead of focusing on how to perform work, this is directed toward why the work is done in a certain way under different circumstances, and adds context and depth of understanding to the process, which will help with understanding priorities and differences in a variety of situations.

Capture and Transfer Expertise from Departing Personnel - a particularly daunting task given the current economy and the reason for the departing of staff....and by the way, while the current economy will keep many baby-boomers in the job market longer to either build back the nest egg or to compensate for potentially future rising inflation, that knowledge will be leaving the workforce in ever increasing numbers (some might argue that in some sectors that is not a bad thing).  But capturing the knowledge from departing personnel, evaluating it, and then introducing vital components to existing staff is still a key element of a Knowledge Management initiative.

There is, was and perhaps always will be some analysis paralysis. And the only surefire way that I know of to move an economy or a business is to produce and move products and services, and by keeping a focus on the priorities and effective measures, help to clear away a part of the overload that can bog down effective thinking and production.

The Evolution of Communities of Practice

I think it was expected that the methodology of and enablers for and the individual's innovative uses would evolve Communities of Practice as time went on and people focused more and more on the right way to service the individual and community.

In the 90s, research was conducted and concluded that in order for a Community of Practice to thrive quickly, it was best to begin with a face-to-face meeting of the members in order to create and build trust, after which a community of remote users could move forward successfully. When this sort of launch did not occur, communities (in general) took longer to build that trust and get the community rolling (or - of course - many failed).

These current thoughts about CoPs was brought about by John Tropea at socialmediatoday, who blogged this past week about How relevant are communities of practice in a network age?

His focus is on "cross-functional group spaces to learn about a topic (*usually* comprised of people across different teams). I'm not referring to teams using CoP-like social software like Basecamp as a group space to coordiate and communicate tasks/project."  I'm not so sure the evolution does not include both - long term.

It is very noticeable - you not only have your twitter network as your CoP, but other tools as well...like my weekly LinkedIn email notifying me of my network's changes and any questions posted and/or answered. You learn a lot about your network by the question asked and even more by the answers supplied.

Additionally, my college alumni site has started the same practice of sending me a weekly email showing posted questions/answers, comments, advice and general thoughts with the author of those messages.

The way in which people are using the tools available is evolving. The stated purpose of twitter is to post show comments related to what you are doing at that moment...and yet - it becomes a community of not just thoughts but the posing and answering of questions.

Well, as John Tropea points out, the focus is moving toward the individual and what they get out of the community and what they can contribute. You can be sure of more creative solutions coming.

Knowledge Management in Customer Service

I was perusing the last week's Knowledge Management and Content Management articles and blogs courtesy of Google Alerts, and saw an interesting article on KM in Retail, but it was primarily a technology article in KM World...and I kept hearing the words of Jerry Ash in my head reminding me what I already know...KM is about those who generate, share and use the knowledge, not about the technology that helps us to do that.

With that in mind, today's post became obvious....eVergence's blog posting entitled, The Top Five New Years Resolutions for Customer Service. We all have complaints about and horror stories related to customer service, a job which in many cases is low paying, off-shored, seldom recognized and never-fully-appreciated (except to the customers who need it in high quality). Customer Service is also a front line position that offers huge opportunities for making a difference - and for generating innovative practices and 'managing' knowledge.

Estaban Kolstoy's suggestions are:

1. Resolve to be more patient. This is an obvious one for Customer Service personnel, as well as any staff that deal with customers. Kolstoy suggests empowering Customer Service staff with a little more power to deal with customers who will undoubtedly be feeling the pressures of the current economy.
2. Resolve to get in better shape.This is the time to discover your strengths and weaknesses and get them in order, making necessary changes. I would suggest for managers to listen to Customer Service staff for ways to improve processes.
3. Resolve to fix broken relationships. It's not possible to fix all relationships, but a) it is a great suggestion to take time to do this...businesses will need to keep as many customers as they can during the tough economy, but just as important is b) learn from your mistakes. How did you harm the relationship in the past and what can be changed moving forward to prevent these types of problems (and how can you fix the feedback loop to catch and fix these issues quicker).
4. Resolve to try something new. Kolstoy primarily suggests new technology solutions, such as blogging, twitter, etc., which is not a bad idea, but my preference would not be to go the hi-tech route initially, but instead, resolve to try new processes, new procedures....and pilot them...if there is also a way to use technology to help you do these things, then by all means adopt it...but start with new, fresh ideas from the front line CS staff and expand from there.
5. Resolve to listen better. Somewhat obvious...and as Estaban acknowledges, this is an aggregation of the previous 4, but worth mentioning. I'll just extend it to say from Customer to Customer Service Staff, from Customer Service Staff to Customer Service Management on up to senior management - feedback and then action are always good resolutions.

It's good advice to start the year and keep attention on these 5 points. I'm not big on "Top lists" - but this one does not violate my rules about lists - probably because it is a prime number and short enough to be easily remembered.

KM Wars

The disruption that is incubating between KM and the various processes and market segments that are generally considered to be KM-related, continues to grow.

A recent link from David Gurteen's blog led me to a really fascinating article at the Enterprise 2.0 Blog site. Social Media vs. Knowledge Management: A Generational War written by Venkatesh Rao is a very thought provoking thesis. It's long, but well worth the read. While the argument that the war between Social Media and KM is generational (Boomers vs Gen-Xers vs Millenials) bears some resemblance to actuality, it is a bit far-reaching, but an engaging description of what's happening in the industry. The arguments put forth about Social Media and Knowledge Management, and the technologies that support them, is an illuminating read.

As before....depending on viewpoint, Social Media will continue to be associated with KM, or an attempt is made to separate them.

But how is this helpful or constructive?

I haven't figured that out yet other to know that as we define things further, and discern the similarities and differences, we can better define the lines of KM.

Near the end of the day today, I received my Basex TechWatch newsletter, billed as "A Weekly Monitor and Digest of the Knowledge Economy." It is one of the key eZines that I read all the time, and has been the source of a lot of useful knowledge. But when I got to the end, where they list announcements that they track, the categories were as follows: Content Management, Desktop Productivity, Knowledge-enabled CRM, Collaboration, Social Software, Mobility, Voice Processing, Business Process Management, Cloud Computing, and Application Development Environments. Broad stokes....certainly impactful on the mangement of knowledge, but very diverse categories.

The Demise of KM - Supplemental

Every once in a while, I have to wonder if my posts (such as the Demise of KM Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3) have anything to do with the real world issues that others are experiencing or writing about. 

So this morning's Google Alerts on "Knowledge Management" brought a post from Daniel Tunkelang of The Noisy Channel on Knowledge Management is a Process. Daniel was praising Lynda Moulton for taking on CIO Magazine (one of its authors) for proclaiming that “search is being implemented in enterprises as the new knowledge management” and her (Lynda's) response that “knowledge management (KM) is not now, nor has it ever been, a software product or even a suite of products” (more on Lynda's post here).  Well of course not...

Planning, Organizing, Leading and Controlling are what the Business schools teach as the components of Management philosophy. Each of these pieces of management can be done just fine without any software tools....Physical clip boards, manual Gantt charts, and a stop watch (time-motion studies) worked just fine until better methods such VisiCalc, Lotus Notes, and MS Project came along. Yeah, software does not an industry make - software is just an enabler to better perform the required function.

So one problem that Knowledge Management has is a lack of definition. After years of evolving management philosophy, the 4 concepts above are generally agreed as components of management (with only slight disagreement or refinement of terms). However, look at Wikipedia and how it shotguns KM:

"improved performance, competitive advantage, innovation, developmental processes, lessons learnt transfer...and the general development of collaborative practices. Knowledge Management is frequently linked...to...learning organisation, lifelong learning, and continuous improvement."

Add that to the concept of where KM belongs:

Many large companies have resources dedicated to Knowledge Management, often as a part of Information Technology, Human Resource Management, or Business Strategy departments.

And so we get, as I have described, any number of technologies looking to enable the processes that facilitate the mangement of knowledge. The various components of managing knowledge (after action review, storytelling, knowledge capture, content management) then get cross-bred with IT, HR, and Strategy solutions, adding exponentially to the products available to help 'manage knowledge.'

Even in a simplistic KM definition of "capture, codify and disseminate knowledge to stimulate knowledge re-use or innovation," we invite a lot of interpretation for ways to enable that process. Some Vendors, or the general public, revolt against aligning software under KM, while other quickly add their product name to the KM list.

The key is that we must always remember what Daniel has said, which is that Knowledge Management is a process...and still a developing philosophy....all else is merely the means to the end.  

In this day and age, how broad the paint brush strokes will typically be defined by vendors and policed by users. 

The Demise of KM - Part 3

10 years ago, I was introduced to the Knowledge Management industry, and shortly thereafter signed on to run the US Office for a KM vendor....(check out the story about vendors ).

In 1998, it seemed as if anything that moved was positioned under Knowledge Management: Content Management, Storytelling, Social Networks, Digital Asset Management, Brainstorming, Communities of Practice, Intellectual Property RIghts Management, Wikis, and Search (the company I worked for had a natural language, neural-network-enhanced search engine) just to name a few.

At that time, if you had a product in one of those categories, you were a KM product.

While in 1998 a burgeoning industry was all trying to aggregate under the banner of Knowledge Management, there is now a growing segregation in process. Most recently are white papers by InQuira on (Knowledge Management System) KMS vs. CMS (Content Management System), and one by CMSWatch on CM vs KM vs DAM et al.  Additionally the KNOW Network published a Social Networking vs. Knowledge Management perspective. Search - as anyone can attest - is certainly a market in and of itself.

It seems that processes and technologies that were once lining up under KM are now eclipsing KM in their own right. Of course, the processes and the technologies surrounding these sectors are all different, even if they are not positioned 'versus' one another.

The demise of Knowledge Management will not be due to any lack of need for KM processes - witness the coming brain drain and the value of things such as Social Networks (and how vendors are trying to move Social Networking into the office) - no, KM is only threatened by its lack of ability to establish a secure identity of its own.

We'll see.