Communities of Practice – “if it’s happening here then it must be happening somewhere else”

In their book Cultivating Communities of Practice, Etienne Wenger, Richard McDermott and William M. Snyder describe Communities of Practice as “groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis”.

They point out that Communities of Practice are different and have a different purpose to other organisational structures e.g. Operational teams, Project Teams, Formal Departments and Informal Networks.

Knowledge Managers will be aware that groups and networks of people are given many different names/labels e.g. Communities of Interest, Communities of Practice, and Communities of Purpose, and whatever the name/label, that it is important there is a clear and shared organisational understanding of the terms/classification used.

One way to help make the concept of Communities ‘come alive’, or to help re-invigorate an existing Community struggling to build momentum, is to tell an organisational story about collaboration and how the sharing of ideas and good/best practice can result in improved performance; time saved; speed to market etc.

The following video, from Rio Tinto, tells of one such story at the Bengalla Mine.  The video highlights how the concept of Communities can lead to a cultural shift and a mind-set where staff think of a Community as the first port of call to help them resolve problems.  After all, as a member of staff so clearly puts it, “if it’s happening here, then it must be happening somewhere else”!

Knowledge Management – quotes and recipes

Knowledge Managers often use quotes and analogies when discussing and explaining aspects of knowledge management.

Of the many quotes to select from, one that could be used to help position what knowledge management is all about is by Arian Ward (Work Frontiers International): “The idea is not to create an encyclopaedia of everything that everybody knows, but to keep track of people who ‘know the recipe’, and nurture the technology and culture that will get them talking”.

What I like about this quote is that it refers to the people ‘who know the recipe’ and the use of a recipe as an analogy is also often used when discussing and explaining aspects of knowledge management.

Knowledge Managers will be aware that whilst quotes and analogies are helpful, it’s not the quote or analogy itself that is important, but how it is used and the context in which it is used.

In a recent article in the Daily Telegraph an expert on recipes, Delia Smith, reminds us that “you can’t learn cooking from cook books”.  I’ll leave it to use to decide whether this new quote from Delia Smith and the analogy of a recipe is helpful or unhelpful in your organisation.

For those interested in obtaining more quotes on knowledge management check out the blog Dove Lane: Kaye Vivian’s observations on knowledge, virtual worlds and uncommon things.

 

What status does creativity have in your organisation?

In the following TedTalks video Sir Ken Robinson tells and amusing and powerful story about children and creativity and makes the link with organisations and how they are managed.  Having blogged recently about learning, mistakes and failure, I was interested to hear his views, and in particular his thoughts about “if you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original”.

In MBTI terms I think he is talking about the importance of ‘NFP’ over ‘STJ’; illustrated by the fact that whilst we know that it is very difficult to predict the future, we continue to educate our children as though the future can be planned and foreseen.

What is knowledge management?

Definitions of knowledge management abound and (unless you know differently) there is no one shared definition or agreement about what these two words mean when we put them together.

That said, those that attempt to describe or define knowledge management often do so using similar terms and by giving similar examples.  Knowledge management practitioners and consultants also use and deploy similar tools and techniques, although will often brand these in a variety of ways e.g. Keep in Touch meetings; Lunch and Learns; Brown Bag sessions etc.  So whilst there is no one shared definition for knowledge management it could be said that there are common descriptions and common tools and techniques being used.

The point about a lack of a definition or shared understanding was in part made by Victor Newman in his book The Knowledge Activist’s Handbook in which he said that “the problem with knowledge management is that it begins with two words: knowledge and management”.  In the knowledge management foundation course I run I get delegates to think deeply about the two words ‘knowledge’ and ‘management’ and then think about what these mean when put together.  This exercise highlights that knowledge management means different things to different people and their organisations – and that context (for what purpose) is all.

So if you and you organisation are about to embark on a knowledge management journey, a good place to start is to think about what these words mean and in the context of the business challenges and opportunities being faced.  Or if you or your organisation has already embarked on a knowledge management journey and you have previously given thought as to what these two words mean, now might the time to ‘dust down’ your definition and check to what extent there is still a shared understanding amongst your colleagues.

Whilst it might be fun and of some value to compare and contrast definitions of knowledge management, the one that really counts is the one you have in your organisation, and it is against this that a shared understanding is required. 

…and for those looking to compare or contrast definitions, the following comprises an eclectic list to get you thinking:

APQC : http://www.apqc.org/knowledge-management

Asian Development Bank : http://www.adb.org/site/knowledge-management/main

Deloitte : http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_LU/lu/services/consulting/knowledge-management/#.UXp40b5wbug

KM World : http://www.kmworld.com/Articles/Editorial/What-Is-…/What-is-KM-Knowledge-Management-Explained-82405.aspx

Knowledge Management Online: http://www.knowledge-management-online.com/Definition-of-Knowledge-Management.html

NASA : http://km.nasa.gov/whatis/

NHS : http://www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/systemsandservices/icd/informspec/careerplan/phi/personal/learningweb/technical/other/knowledge

Stephen Denning : http://www.stevedenning.com/Knowledge-Management/what-is-knowledge-management.aspx

Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_management

Or if you prefer to watch a video clip rather than read the words from a web site, then you’ll find a large number which provide answers the question what is knowledge management? on Youtube.

How to get unconnected

Aspects of social media have led to a further blurring of the lines between work and weekend activities, or what some might describe as work-life balance.  This ‘blurring’ concerns not just the use and availability of mobile technologies that connect us on a 24/7 basis, but also the ownership of content e.g. of a Tweet or a set of contacts of LinkedIn.

In the consultancy work I do and in the training courses I run, I often say that Knowledge Managers should be as good at ‘killing things off’ as they are introducing new – by which I mean it is very easy to get seduced by a new piece of technology, the latest release of software, or ideas from the management guru of the day, and introducing these new ways of working to the organisation; without thinking sufficiently about what these new practices and technologies might replace.

An approach of ‘introducing new’ without a mind-set of ‘killing off the old’ inevitably leads to a plethora of ways of doing similar things, confused employees, increased costs, and information silos.

From a personal perspective, many readers of this blog will have also experienced the excitement of using ‘the new’ as they connect to, and use a variety of, social media and web services.  What seemed like a good idea at the time can lead to information overload and a feeling of not being able to keep up with the latest and ‘best’.

In this situation, what action can you take, and how easy is it to get unconnected?  Some answers are provided in an article in the New York Times Breaking Up Is Hard To Do.

Photo from Chapendra’s Photostream on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/chaparral/

Good service – it’s no mystery. Give yourself a call!

Ever thought about becoming a mystery shopper?  A quick search on the web will reveal many opportunities. However, the aim of this blog post is not (necessarily) to help you change your career, but more to remind readers of the benefits of applying a mystery shopper mind-set and approach to everyday business activities.

Underpinning this point is the fact that many knowledge and information managers work hard to improve the products and services they provide to internal users or external customers.  The feedback provided from the user and customer experience is invaluable in providing these managers with the knowledge required to take performance improvement action.

However, some of the best ‘feedback’ can actually come from using and experiencing the product or service for oneself i.e. a knowledge or information manager placing themself in the shoes of the users or customers.  A simple/generic example to illustrate.

Try to contact yourself – when out of the office try to contact yourself to hear and feel what it is like to speak with the switchboard/reception service provided by your organisation.  You might be surprised:

• At the number of rings it takes before you get an answer
• That automated ‘elevator music’ is used when you are on hold
• That your name is not instantly recognised are that you are asked “do you know what department he/she works for?”
• That you are put through to an old number, i.e. the one you had in a previous role
• That your answerphone and automated voice message do not work as well as you imagined
• That your phone gets answered!

We all know that first impressions count, and whilst the above is a simple example, the point can be made about any product or service provided by knowledge and information managers, e.g. how easy/difficult is it for a user to request and set up a community space/teamsite?; what is the experience like requesting help to set up/facilitate a Peer Assist?; what’s it like contacting the internal Help Desk? etc.

Adopting a mystery shopper approach may also give knowledge and information managers some insight and answers to the (often asked) question “why don’t my users/customers complete the questionnaire I send them asking for feedback about the products and services I provide?

How to learn from mistakes

Few would argue with the thought that it is important to learn from mistakes, and some would go further by saying that our most important learning comes from mistakes and failure.  What constitutes ‘failure’ is an interesting question, perhaps best illustrated with a quote from inventor Thomas A Edison; “I’ve not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

If an organisation aspires to be creative and innovative, then it stands to reason that mistakes will happen. How leaders and managers then deal with employees who make these mistakes is key and encouraging learning from them, rather than punishing the ‘error’, helps set the right tone.

Many moons ago I can recall a CEO, keen to encourage creativity and innovation in his organisation, say to employees that “it’s ok to make a mistake, as long as you don’t make the same mistake twice”.  In effect, he was giving others permission to make mistakes, as long as learning and improvement came from them.

Now whilst this style of leadership might be music to the ears of Knowledge Managers, it also presents a challenge; for whilst it is relatively easy for an employee to ensure that he/she does not make the same mistake twice, how can a Knowledge Manager ensure that the same mistake is not made by someone else in the organisation?

One way to address this is to encourage all in an organisation to keep a Mistake Diary.  This approach is explained in an article in the Wall Street Journal http://blogs.wsj.com/atwork/2013/03/29/the-manager-who-kept-a-six-year-diary-of-her-mistakes/?mod=WSJ_Management_At_Work and tells the story of a manager who kept a 6 year diary of her mistakes.

Inevitably, Knowledge Managers will find it easier to get employees to share their success stories with others, rather than their mistakes/failures; after all, employees are only human.  However, the article is a reminder that it is sometimes best to focus knowledge management effort and resource on the things that are more difficult i.e. leveraging learning from mistakes/failures, than on the things that are relatively easy i.e. encouraging sharing of successes.

Photograph from Opensourceway’s Photostream on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/