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Precipitating a KM SolutionPrecipitating a KM Solution

David G. Jones, B.A., M.A.

Shibumi.management@gmail.com

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An Opening Word

“For (years) business leaders have taught bureaucracy-busting, teamwork coaching, etc. Here’s all you really need to know: provide safe places where people can share ideas about work without getting shut down by bosses and bureaucrats”.– Thomas Stewart: Intellectual Capital,

The New Wealth of Organizations

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A metaphor from chemistry, which is all about…..

Physical Properties Metals and Ions; Acids and Bases Kinetics and Equilibrium Reactions of Elements and Gases Solutions and Solubility Changes in Energy Reduction and Synthesis

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Chemical Precipitation

Happens in aqueous solutions, where Some ions react; Some are unchanged (called “spectators”);

Others are insoluble and “settle out”

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Workplace Characteristics

Hierarchial structures Stovepipes Rules Specialized functions, tasks Continual change Absurd mobility Mission shortfall

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Management is..

Troubled by,– Increasing isolation, division, gaps– Decreasing aptitude, commitment and energy – Increasing costs and decreasing returns

And burdened with “solutions”:– How-to tools, methods and processes– Metrics, benchmarks, “best” practices – Information and knowledge as product

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Bedevilled by discreet function dysfunction

Human Resources Corporate Communications Webmasters Client Services Employee Relations Marketing

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Ion 1 (business):

•Knows there is a very serious problem•Expending energy in organizing workers, not work•Has not articulated its plans and requirements•Patches and Band-Aids•Really not sure whether IT is a management function or a service delivery

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But, business really needs to be cautious about...

Throwing out the baby with the bath water Washing all the babies in the same water Washing perfectly clean babies Spending time and money inventing better

water

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Therefore, we need to spend time on “work”...

Developing a better understanding of:– what it is and how to manage it– what is a “good decision”, and how to make

good ones– who needs to be involved with what, when,

where, how– how we can bring functional specialization

back into generic work and management

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And more time on planning and managing...

getting the objectives right focusing on the strategic must-do’s eliminating stupid change re-inventing plodding involving the right people up front having the courage to toss out things that

don’t work

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And more time on people...

Defining appropriate:– skills– recruitment strategies– institutionalized risk-taking and,

» reduced fear of failure– minimalist position descriptions– effective rewards systems

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And more time...

Making sure we really understand work processing before we re-engineer it

Embracing minimalism Laying the groundwork for innovation and

improvement Developing systematic work that IT can

facilitate

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And more time...

Getting the technology right:– enhance capability on what is already in place– understand that needs differ at individual and

organizational levels– empower users (Down With Defaults!)– stop focusing on volume and connections– start focusing on content and utility

Making IM/IT a management function

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The condition of ion 2 (IT):

Really unclear about what the business wants and needs(and can’t extract the answers)

Preoccupied with being “current” Fixated on logic and “improvement” Really believes it has (the) answers Has been taught to wait Is giving up on waiting

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Current IT role and performance

In nearly 50% of reengineering projects, IT managers or staff had conflicts with the project team, and almost 80% of operational managers and staff rated IT support and performance as mediocre to poor. IT managers gave themselves slightly higher performance reviews, but still only 40% considered their performance very good or excellent.

Two hundred and five companies participated in ProSci's benchmarking study on the future role of IT in business process reengineering.

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Participants stated that the primary contributor to IT's poor reputation was their lack of operational knowledge and understanding of business needs. In some cases, IT failed to match technology to the desired business processes, was unable to meet commitments, or was not customer-service oriented.

IT managers and staff indicated that IT should be the driver in reengineering. In strong disagreement, operational managers and consultants stated that IT should be an enabler, a team member and a partner in the reengineering process.

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KM presents an opportunity

To bring together what we have learned about work, management and information technology in a way that will profit all the players.

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But to precipitate such change...

We need to set down our organization requirements, opportunities and vehicles for leveraging intellectual capital

Integrate “knowledge” as an asset and utility Establish discipline, and integrate technologies for

managing the information life cycle Bring diverse talents together to work on this

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Business and IT management have a common stake in settling out:

The consequences of:– Sharing information widely (never mind the

quality question at this point)– A better informed workforce– Collaborative work; real and virtual interaction– How people come to understand, and use the

power of the tools at their disposal

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I think we have to dump some models and assumptions

1. The data-information-knowledge pyramid

2. That our clients will be satisfied much longer with having only “access to information”

3. That “knowledge” as an “asset” will conform to the same rules we apply to other corporate assets

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A final word:

“The Work of New Age Managers” is:– Conceive and Execute Complex Strategies– Share and Protect Intellectual property– Manage the Public-private Interface– Provide Intellectual and Administrative

Leadership

C.K. Prahalad in The Organization of the Future by the Drucker Foundation