'Tis the season to be knowledgeable - KM at Christmas

This Christmas, we had lunch at my Mother’s house, with siblings, nieces and nephews all over-excited and loving every minute of it.  My contribution to the main meal was the stuffing.  I had watched a Tom Kerridge cookery programme a few days earlier and his pork, sage, onion and chestnut stuffing (wrapped in bacon!) looked fabulous so I had to give it a go.

I found the recipe online, using my phone and went out to buy the ingredients.

When it came to some of the details, the recipe was somewhat vague, so I re-watched the programme clip, again on my phone.  I also read some of the comments left by others, noting a couple of warnings about one key element in the recipe.

The result?  Amazing stuffing, complimented by all that tried it – my stepfather even told us twice how much he liked it which is rare praise indeed.

So what?

Well, it struck me how here was a simple example of knowledge management (KM) at work.
A cookery recipe is a ‘knowledge asset’, designed to tell us how to make a dish in the absence of the chef that created it.  Recipes are more useful if they are clear and detailed, ideally with diagrams and photographs throughout.  In the case of the stuffing, I was fortunate to re-watch the relevant clip, again adding further detail and context.

A further point – reading the comments made by others that had already tried the recipe both gave me confidence and highlighted things I should look out for.  These benefits are just 2 of those gained by membership of another KM tool, the Community of Practice (CoP).  Being able to ask questions of others that have gone before us is immensely powerful and whilst all I was doing was reading others’ experiences, it reminded me of what CoPs offer.

Now, delete cookery and stuffing and insert ‘sales pitch’ or ‘branch opening’ or 'well drilling' or ‘airport construction’ and we can see how powerful KM can be for those that want to try something new but want to benefit from those that have done it before.

I think I might go and try to persuade my stepfather….

For a conversation about how KM can help you sell, buy, design, construct, operate, dispose, recruit, train, employ or retain, please contact me direct or via the Knoco website.