>W.M. Deijmann wrote, in part:
>
>> Every technologic solution for Knowledge Management is doomed to fail if
>> human intuition and feelings are excluded in the design of the software.
>
>it might be interesting to read Ian Angell's arguement about the "Myth"
>of Knowledge Management first in that he argues that KM is a creation by
>those who need a new "widget" to sell to their clients. I might suggest
>that KM might be an oxymoron if, as you suggest, there is a signficant
>roll for intuition and out of the box problem solving strategies--At
>least or at minimum, in its IT, data mining form
>
>tom abeles <tabeles@tmn.com>
LO Colleagues -
Some information that may be useful to W.M. Deijmann, Tom Abeles, and
others with concerns about the "realness" of knowledge management (KM).
Here are some definitions / descriptions of KM, collected in recent months
from our LO list and other places. Also a news item and information
sources to check if you're interested.
17 Feb 1998 - e-mail I received from Thomas Koulopoulos, President of
Delphi Group (Boston). Delphi conducts and markets research on KM.
Information on their headline service is below***.
"There is much that I could say on this [the connections between LO and
KM], however, in short, I would agree that there is indeed a connection
between LO and KM. If there is dissonance it is because these two
disciplines have evolved in separate communities. There is also a
tendency on the part of the LO community, I believe, to view KM as a
technology patch for a human problem. While KM evangelists tend to view
LO as a problem for the HR side of the organization. My take on all of
this is that KM technology acts as a platform with which to further the
practices that lead to a LO. Whether it is used that way is a matter of
the users discretion. If the two intersect it is usually due to the
existence of a CKO/CLO who has an appreciation for both."
***"Delphi NewsFlash Headlines
<delphi-headlines@apollo.delphigroup.com>...is provided as a complimentary
information service to interested professionals keeping current in the
world of knowledge management, document management, workflow,
intranet/extranet, or text retrieval software....If you would like to
receive this complimentary Delphi Headline service, you may send your
e-mail address to: <lmw@delphigroup.com> with SUBSCRIBE HEADLINES in the
message SUBJECT field to start their subscription."
KM is "
available widely for use by other people throughout the organization. KM
concerns itself with packaging information into "components" that when
combined and modified can be reused in other places and contexts by other
people
in administration and manufacturing-based organizations" (Simon
Buckingham, LO16456, January, 1998).
"[KM] is a multi-disciplinary field that draws on aspects of information
science, information technology, interpersonal communications,
organizational learning, cognitive science, motivation, training,
publishing and business process analysis" (adapted from Knowledge
Management report, Dataware Technologies, n.d. [~1998], page 16).
"KM is all about being able to deploy relevant, valid knowledge in pursuit
of the organization's aims (and
providing a [setting] where the deployment of knowledge can and does
happen" (Fred Nickols, LO#???, 6/1/98).
"KM enables organizations to find new ways to readily share both their
explicit knowledge (that which is easily codified and stored online) and
their tacit knowledge (that which is elusive and collectively held in the
brains and experiences of [members of the company]).
intersection of information and human cognition that creates knowledge.
[The goal of KM is] the process by which information is used to create
something actionable.
reinventing themselves in order to seize opportunities and realize the
full potential of [their] corporate talents (page 21, "KM World," August
1998).
"...KM is the distribution, access and retrieval of human experiences and
relevant information between related individuals or workgroups.
Successful KM systems involve three main components: people (to provide
knowledge and create new knowledge), process (by which that knowledge is
transferred and disseminated) and technology (to enable the knowledge
sharing process)" (page 22, "KM World," August 1998).
"More than 50% of international best-practices organizations surveyed by
the American Productivity & Quality Center <www.apqc.org>...claim KM as
one of their strategic goals. ...The report "Knoweldge Management and the
Learning Organization: A European Perspective" profiled seven KM
best-practice companies in Europe, outlining their tactics and technology"
(KM World, September, 1998, page 6).
>From this information (knowledge?) I'm of settled mind:
1) that KM is real,
2) it's not a fad or "flavor of the month, and it's not going to go away, and
3) it does fit as a resource that those concerned with LO could benefit by
learning more about.
I'd be interested to learn what others think about these conclusions, and
the information (knowledge?) above?
Dick Webster
Richard S. Webster, Ph.D. - President
Personal Resources Management Institute
709 Wesley Court - Worthington OH 43085-3558
e-mail <webster.1@osu.edu>, fax 614-433-71-88, tel 614-433-7144
PRMI is a 501(c)3 non-profit research, development and consulting company,
founded in 1978. The Institute's work relates primarily to the paradigm
shift from "training, instruction, and teaching" to "learning." Learning
is a key strategy for improving leadership, performance, processes,
quality, results -- and the teams' work that creates outstanding
organizations.
***
"Things are getting better and better and worse and worse faster and
faster" says Tom Atlee. Challenges: (1) Finding the "betters" and building
on them, in time. (2) Learning -- each person's responsibility and
opportunity.
--"Richard S. Webster" <webster.1@osu.edu>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>