Tuesday 14 March 2017

These things don't happen on their own, you know....

At university, I read Politics and Philosophy, which included a module called, 'Space, Time and Infinity'.  It was awesome.  I loved irritating my housemates by pretending not to understand vague terms such as 'this morning' or 'tomorrow night'...

Various theories have been put forward to show that time is a real phenomenon, as opposed to a construction of human thinking to help us make greater sense of the world and our place in it.

One of these is the 'entropic theory of time', which I shall simplify, if only to spare my blushes and retain your attention.

Entropy means 'disorder'.  Most things in our world, free from outside interference, will become disordered, thereby showing greater entropy.  It is this direction, from order to disorder, that shows the passage (and direction) of time.  Think of the untended, increasingly weedy garden, the neglected, muddy car or indeed any room in the house recently visited by small children....

So far, so what?

Much of human existence has required our 'interference' in things, to create and sustain the things that enable us to live the lives we enjoy today.  The food we eat, the clothes we wear and the transport we take have all been developed through our deliberately choosing to do things and to continue doing those things.  Some discoveries have been accidental (e.g. some vaccines, hot air balloons, Post-it notes etc.) but our exploitation of them has only been possible through our continued, deliberate efforts.

As it is with human history, so it is with knowledge management (KM).

Without KM, organisations remain in states of entropy, to greater or lesser degrees:
  • New ideas don't take hold and spread without the energy with which (or the channels along which) to move them - which means innovations remain isolated;
  • Lessons don't get identified and DEFINITELY don't get learned, without people making the necessary effort - which means the same mistakes get made, over and over again;
  • Best practices don't get developed, let alone embedded, without a system of creation, review and update - which means performance is inconsistent and the quality varied;
  • Knowledge doesn't stick around when people leave without a system of retention and transfer - which means those left behind have to start from scratch, all over again.
Without a deliberate KM approach, far too many organisations resemble the unkempt garden, the dirty car or the sofa with crayon scrawled all over it:  mistakes are repeated, over and over again; business continues to be lost from failed bids; time is wasted tracking down the guy that did this thing before.

So, KM is not 'natural' and will not happen by itself.  It requires a deliberate decision from senior management to investigate, design, test and implement a KM approach.

We don't have inviting gardens by accident; we don't have clean cars by accident and we don't have tidy houses by accident (nor, for that matter, presentable children) - so why on earth would we expect our knowledge to be managed by accident?

If you'd like a conversation about deliberately choosing to manage your organisation's knowledge, contact me direct or via the Knoco website.

Thursday 9 March 2017

The last 10 problems that clients have asked us to solve....

At Knoco, we get queries of all sorts, with clients seeking our help in providing knowledge management (KM) solutions to a wide range of problems. 

I thought readers of this blog might be interested in a quick run-down of what these problems are, and how we have helped (or might yet do so).

So, in reverse order, they are:
  • A global consultancy, introducing a technology platform to a Chinese client, want us to provide the KM roles, processes and governance to maximise the benefits available;
  • A global law firm seeks our help in getting teams from different geographical and functional areas to talk to one another; we'll be running a short workshop for them, which will include the Bird Island game;
  • A Chinese manufacturing firm has numerous problems of quality, cost over-runs and also its staff take a long time to become competent and generate value; we're currently helping them to develop a KM business case, to justify the investment needed for the project that will help address these issues;
  • A UK-based defence consultancy is looking to introduce KM but is concerned about employee engagement; we'll be running a workshop (again, with Bird Island) to show the value of KM and help them begin their journey;
  • A Middle Eastern utilities organisation has introduced KM but its take-up is patchy, with isolated examples of good practice; they've asked us to conduct a KM assessment and draft an implementation plan;
  • A global jewellery firm wants to introduce KM but doesn't know how or where to start; we've been asked to design and implement a KM pilot project for them;
  • Another global consultancy has many employees spread far and wide, all of whom seek the advice and support of one or two 'grey beard' experts, which continually diverts these high-value staff members from 'big picture' issues; they've asked us to design and plan a KM pilot project for them;
  • A UK regulator has isolated experts, pockets of good practice and virtually no learning from experience; we've designed a KM framework for them, edited their KM strategy and are about to start KM training;
  • A UK consultancy to the healthcare sector has a low 'bid win rate' and fails either to identify or learn lessons from its bids; we've been asked to look at ways of using KM elements to help it win more business, and learn from each new engagement;
  • A global consultancy to the oil/gas sector is introducing KM; we've conducted a KM assessment, designed a framework and trained their 'KM champions'; we've now been asked to provide ongoing support over the next 12 month.
If any of these sound familiar, or you have a different problem, and think we might be able to help, please contact me direct, or via the Knoco website.