Reflections of a Knowledge Manager

Back To Basics: KM and Adult Education

2013-05-14T07:13:00.000-07:00

OR, "I Am A KM Snob"

Ohhhhhhh, so many things going on this week...apartment hunting in DC (major pain in the ass), trying to figure out Rita Ora's ethnicity....I mean, she could be Albanian like it says on her Wiki page but she looks at least half Black AND she dated a Kardashian and, except for Kourtney, we know how they roll.

What else...I am officially over these "idealist peddlers" harassing folks on the streets of DC to listen to their spiel about whatever organization they're repping. They could take a few cues from their homeless competitors, namely, say your piece and keep it moving! 'Cause, let me tell you, you are taking your LIFE into your hands steppin' in front me to block my path to the Metro at 6pm to ask me if you can ask me a question - you just did!

Ain't nobody got time for that!

Recently, I attended the Global KM Health Share Fair hosted by the Global Health Knowledge Collaborative (GHKC). Since the field of public health is new ground for me in my KM career, I hoped to get some insight into the ways in which KM is is being used in the space to help me be more creative. Unfortunately, my takeaways weren't quite what I set out to acquire.

For starters, I made the realization that I am indeed a KM snob. What is that you ask? In a nutshell, if I don't feel that a person adds to my understanding of KM then I'm not interested. If I don't feel like a networking relationship will help me to grow as a professional or individual then I'm not interested. And, if I don't feel that someones understanding of KM is consistent or in line with mine, then I'm especially not interested. This might seem ironic - possibly, even moronic, considering that my entire profession is about promoting communication and knowledge sharing, but honestly, that's just where I'm at these days. Over the course of my nearly 10 year career I have certainly put in my time meditating on KM and sharing my insights on the subject with anyone remotely interested (and several folks who weren't) but too often those conversations seem painfully one-sided (and not just because we likes to talk, which we do). At this stage of my career I need professional relationships that are equally give and take, not ones where I'm giving solely to help them grow. Yes, it's nice to give but sometimes we wanna be Johnny at Christmas instead of being Santa all the time - milk and cookies ain't the same thing as a Samsung Galaxy 4S, I'm just sayin'.

My second, unexpected realization, was that folks in this space don't seem to do as much sharing as you'd think or expect. There was whining about competition for donors/funding dollars and the need to differentiate themselves from their "competitors" in terms of publishing research and program activity and maybe I'm just being an unsympathetic jackass but it seemed that too many of these folks were operating in a spirit of fear - yeah, I'm getting spiritual - that flies in the face of the work that they are doing. At the end of the day, we are working to save lives and, in some cases, eliminate illnesses in poorer, underserved populations that don't exist within Western nations. There may be competition for the limited resources to achieve these goals but collaboration is free y'all!

Interesting side bar: Considering how fearful some of these organizations are about sharing knowledge and information, sharing fearlessly is a great way to give visibility to those organizations willing to try something different.

Anywho, while I sat there feeling like a fish out of water because everyone else has their history and experience within the space in which they (and now "'I") work to bond over and I'm being a "judgey" KM snob looking down on them for not knowing as much about KM as (I like to think) I do and not trying harder to know more about KM or to develop innovative ways to approach KM I started getting critical of everything: the layout of the room, anything anybody said, what the girl next to me was eating at breakfast (and how).

To be fair, I did make an effort to share my thoughts in small group work sessions but, honestly, no one seemed very interested in what I had to say. And while I'm willing (in the space of time it takes to write this post) to consider that it's because what I said wasn't particularly interesting, it's common knowledge that everything I have to say is, at a minimum, interesting, so I don't think that was the case. I think it's because the reflections and contributions of other people, doing exactly the type of work that they do, frustrated by exactly the same challenges they are confronting, and saying exactly the same things they believe (not to mention all of those people who don't like to be aggressive about the truth preferring to sugar coat every bitter pill until they rob it of it's effectiveness), were more compelling than some dude who was, essentially, asking them to reflect upon how their attitudes and perspectives (read: bias) influence how they do their work and the results they see.

Yeah, real-talk, I was that deep.

But I couldn't help it! Listening to some of the comments just had me on an Adult Ed rager. I know that I'm probably the only (or one of a few) KM professional who went the route of an Adult Ed course of study, but I truly believe that getting anywhere from the intersection of KM Avenue and Public Health Street demands an understanding of these Adult Ed principles courtesy of Malcolm Knowles (with a little help from the Queensland Occupational Therapy Fieldwork Collaborative (QOTFC):

Adults are internally motivated and self-directed

Develop rapport with your audience and encourage a Socratic method of learning to encourage critical thinking and elicit participation
Show interest in peoples thoughts, opinions, and feedback
Provide regular constructive and specific feedback (both positive and negative)
Encourage use of the range of KM tools and resources available within your organization
Encourage individual KM activity that reflects folks' needs and helps them to achieve their own goals and objectives
Acknowledge folks preferred learning style of each member of your audience/team/staff

Adults bring life experiences and knowledge to learning experiences

Understand the needs and skills of your audience before attempting to secure their buy-in or commitment to something
Facilitate reflective learning opportunities

Adults are goal oriented

Provide meaningful learning experiences that are clearly linked to your audiences goals
Provide relate-able, real-life examples
Ask questions that motivate reflection, inquiry and further research.

Adults are relevancy oriented

Provide some choice in KM activities and tools so that participation - and learning - reflect the interests and habits of your audience

Adults are practical

When making choices about assessments, interventions, and availability of resources and tools, take the time to clearly explain and discuss your rationale
Be open, honest, and explicit about the impact and usefulness of tasks and activities in which folks are engaged

Adult learners like to be respected

Take an interest in your audience
Acknowledge the wealth of experiences that folks bring to the process
Regarding folks as colleagues equal (and maybe even superior) in life experience
Encourage the expression of ideas, reasoning and feedback
Secure buy-in at every opportunity

Your organization may have this massive need (directive and/or mandate) to improve how knowledge and information resources are shared but folks' level of participation reflects their individual need, not your wants. People may put documents in the knowledgebase because they have to (and manage it when told to do so) but active engagement happens when they see relevance to their own work. If you're not getting this type of engagement stop bitchin' about folks not beating a path to the wonderful system you've gifted them with (clearly, in a vacuum) and start asking them what it will take to make that system and the processes you've established into a tool that meets their needs.

UPDATE TO POST: I was updating my Blog Roll when I came across this phenomenal post from Nancy Dixon with regards to approaching a KM Strategy for NPOs/NGOs Working in Developing Countries and all I can say is: "Thanks Nancy, this is exactly what I was hoping for when I went that Share Fair!"

Adventure's in KM Consulting: Cassandra's Curse

2012-01-03T11:39:00.000-08:00

OR, "Why I Need A Pimp"

Oh, sweet blog. How I have missed thee. Would that my time this past year been spent committing words of wisdom into your digital care rather than wasted on advising the unappreciative...otherwise known as my clients and prospects.

I'm not sure if anyone said that consulting is easy but if they did then I have a wad of spit ready for airmail. Despite my growing acceptance of my own brilliance with regards to KM (yes, I'm generous to a fault) it's time that I accept the unavoidable truth that I need a pimp.

And not just someone who will hunt down clients and trick me out on back to back KM gigs, but someone who will occassionally smack me around when I get all noble about KM and feel the need to argue with clients about affecting true change. I mean, if it's clear that they are challenging you because they want the lie, ahem, the version of the truth they're paying for who am I to point out elephants in the room and try to speak truth to power. A good pimp would remind me that they are paying for a fantasy and...SMACK...give it to 'em ho!

So does it make me a good consultant that I can carve up organizational challenges and deliver scintillating strategies for KM sucess or a trrbl consultant (no vowels equals "really, really bad") because I believe in what I do and hate to compromise my values...SMACK...uh, because I won't just play my damn role and feed the fantasy?

The Knowledge Manager in me says "you go boy!" but my bank account is calling for a smack down and screaming at me to "get with the script ho!"

I mean, so what if I'd foreseen the downfall of Circuit City back in '05 (take a note CompUSA, Best Buy, and Fry's - your customers can do all of their own research and get better prices online - your big differentiation needs to be providing a phenomenal, multi-sensory customer experience! Think Sega Video arcades in the '80's and Sharper Image/Brookstones in the '90s before they both got cheap and tacky - take it to the next level!) or if I could've advised Blockbuster and Borders that what did them in isn't the rise of the digital marketplace but their slack ass (read: non-existant) efforts to re-brand their businesses as interactive community hotspots where people come to get connected; digital is a format, not a way of life and retailers like these simply needed to change how they engaged their customers and delivered their products in order to remain viable and thrive. I mean, really Blockbuster, you let Redbox beat you out?!?! I can hear Gomer now, "shameful, shameful, shameful.")? Does it really matter how great I think I am if I can't get my customers and prospects on board with making the changes necessary to ensure success of their KM efforts?

I guess that answers my question: great at KM, trrbl at consulting.

Anywho, while I take a little time away from stressing to blog (aka bitch and moan) and re-consider Pharmacy school (because Pharmacist's don't have these issues...or any issues for that matter...I think...maybe...and I could work part-time in retirement without further stressing my poor broken heart) I can't help but think about my patron Greek prophetess, Cassandra.

Cassandra was a princess of Troy and sister of Paris - the dude who got his family caught up in that infamous war when he went HAM over another man's wife. According to mythology, Cassandra was a hottie in her own right and the Greek God Apollo had a thing for her. In his attempts to woo her he taught her the art of prophesy but she wasn't feelin' him and refused to give up the goodies. Sidebar: this chick must have been off the chain to turn down a god who skipped flowers, candy and Hallmark cards and was throwin' around gifts like "foretell the future" but I'm not hatin'! And you never know, he could've had halitosis from hell (or Tartarus). Anyway, since apparently there's a no return policy on the gift of prophesy, Apollo gave Cassandra a "screw you" parting gift which robbed her prophecy of the power to persuade. So, essentially, she could predict the future but nobody believed her.

I'm not quite sure when I first read about Cassandra just that it was a long time ago (and I'm kinda old so that means it was like, in the 90's or something) but I've always been partial to her because even in high school I was pretty good at reading people and situations, understanding patterns of behavior, predicting outcomes and strategizing (although I probably should have waited see Dangerous Liasions before engaging in an eerily similar scheme which was a complete disaster, but you live, you learn). Even though people didn't disbelieve what I had to say they usually disregarded my advice and more than once became angry with me when my "propecies" came to pass, as if I made it happen by speaking it into existence. Of course, they never stayed angry for long because within a day or two (you know how high school is) they were seeking out my advice again.

I've been learning over the last year that consulting is pretty much the same game, except a lot of people pay you to tell them what they want to hear, not what they need to hear and the ones who claim to want the good, the bad, and the ugly only seem interested in truly wanting your help after they've failed miserably to do the very thing you advised against (and backed themselves into a corner). I used to wonder why Cassandra didn't just throw up a big, fat "dueces" and hop on the first boat out of Troy but now I'm wondering if her loyalty to family and country was as strong as my passion for KM and to affecting true change (however hokey it might sound).

Aaaaaaand writing that, I see just how lame that sounds.

While it's true that I love what I do and enjoy seeing my strategies bear fruit, I guess I struggle with coming to come to terms with the fact that no matter how amazingly prophetic and insightful (I believe) my vision/advice is, how well clients heed my counsel and apply my proposed strategies is really up to them. Ultimately, you can only take responsibility for what you've been engaged to do - provide the best consulting experience possible, then move on to the next opportunity.

Hmph, maybe having that clarity will make my adventures in consulting more of a joy and less of a headache over the next year. Let's hope, because I can't afford a pimp AND a drug dealer right now.

Happy New Year everyone!!

Dr. Everything'll Be Alright's 12 Step KM Program

2011-01-25T14:22:00.000-08:00

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life

Electric word life, it means forever and that's a mighty long time, but I'm here to tell you, there's something else...the afterworld

A world of never ending happiness, you can always see the sun...day or night

So when you call up that shrink in Beverly Hills, you know the one, "Dr. Everything'll Be Alright", instead of asking him how much of your time is left, ask him how much of your mind, baby

Cause in this life, things are much harder than in the afterworld, in this life, you're on your own!

And if the elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy - punch a higher floor!"

I’ve been in a funk the last week and not just because ReRe didn't play in the Aussie Open, Roddick and Isner are out, and V had to retire due to injuries most likely sustained putting on that hot ass mess of a tennis dress (really BabyGirl, really!?!?!).

Anywho, today the universe (via Comcast) conspired to make me feel better. First, season 3 of RuPaul’s Drag Race premiered tonight starring my old college chum (and the first drag queen I ever crushed on) Mimi Imfurst and eternal hottie Vanessa Williams who must get sick of being told how stunning she is every day of her life. Not that I would be the one to ever get tired of lookin' at her or sayin' so. Second, Gossip Girl came back to me after a very cold winter break. Now, as long as the writers stop stabbing my eyes with this whole Blair/Lonely Boy (aka Dumbass Dan) mess I can ride out the remainder of the season blissfully. P.S. What’s up with the One-Life-To-Live-Gossip-Girl-Chicas-Exchange program? Not that I’m complaining; I totally get a kick out of it! Amanda Setton is a hoot, Melissa Gallo needs more work, and Tika Sumpter is truly unappreciated in Llanview.

Prior to all of this TV love, however, my general funkyness (that’s attitude, not B.O.) provided exactly the right creative fuel to pen the 12 Step KM piece to my KM Branding model.

Just to clarify, this isn't KM in 12 steps...if I had that nugget in my tool belt I probably wouldn't have spent the weekend feelin' funky and watching Jersey Shore hoping and praying I get a 'Gorilla Juice Head' t-shirt for my birthday.

No, 12 Step KM revolves around the idea of establishing a support and advocacy group targeting KM staff and champions with the intention of providing:

Professional education and development
Teambuilding and social support
Networking
Advocacy for KM and knowledge stewardship to strengthen KM as an organizational function

Initially, I thought about using this approach to target knowledge hoarders and poor sharers, but upon further thought it seemed a bit much for the workplace, especially when there are more direct ways to secure their participation in KM activity. In serving as a support mechanism for KM staff and champions this approach closes the loop on a 360°branding campaign that touches all stakeholders in an organization.

Unlike traditional 12 Step programs that address recovery from addiction, compulsion, or behavioral problems, this approach isn't meant to imply any shortcoming on the part of participants; think more Weight Watchers than AA. The objective here isn't (necessarily) to correct some sort of psychological or managerial issue. Rather, your looking to help folks maintain clarity and focus with KM...which can be very easy to lose sight of in the day-to-day grind.

The 12 Step KM process involves:

Admitting that successful, sustainable KM takes time; It won’t happen overnight
Recognizing that a strategic approach/mindset is essential to achieving the goals of KM
Documenting and measuring KM activities (and maintaining an historical account) is critical to planning for success
Strategizing and planning around KM metrics, best practices, and lessons learned
Promoting knowledge stewardship and championing the values of KM

The Principles of 12 Step KM

We accept that improving knowledge management is a communal effort and that we are merely facilitators
We fully believe in the promise of KM, that it will improve operational efficiency, promote innovation, and, ultimately, increase market share and profitability
We believe that a strategic approach/mindset is essential to achieving the goals of KM
We will audit knowledge sharing/behaviors, practices and policies thoroughly and evaluate our findings critically
We will develop strategies that honestly and fearlessly reflect organizational needs
We will present an honest accounting of the State of KM to all stakeholders
We will provide sufficient marketing and education on the proposed strategy to key stakeholders to obtain buy-in and support
We will work with key stakeholders to prioritize strategic objectives and pursue them in accordance with a comprehensive project plan
We will routinely assess the demand for KM services and work collaboratively across the organization to achieve KM goals
We will establish and report, regularly, on KM metrics and key performance indicators, as well as lessons learned and action reports
We will commit ourselves to our own professional growth and development
We will actively promote knowledge stewardship, champion the values of KM, and work to strengthen KM as an organizational unit

Whether you're building a team/function/strategy from scratch or pumping new life into something already in motion, 12 Step KM is a fantastic way to provide staff and champions with consistent direction and guidance on KM strategy and values as well as the tools and resources to support them in executing their tasks in the face of organizational roadblocks.

Knowledge Mismanaged: 7 Common Mistakes Organizations Make Implementing KM

2011-01-19T13:29:00.000-08:00

Well, the weather in the A-T-L is very much improved and I'm looking forward to getting on the court and working out some laziness. Hopefully my muscles haven't atrophied too much in the last few weeks since I'm sure drunken karaoke renditions of Cee Lo’s insta-classic “Fuck You” by me and my crew, Scandalous & The Braintrust doesn't qualify as a workout (which is why I'm learning the choreography for my new favorite jawn, Keri Hilson’s “Pretty Girl Rock” to perform drunkenly during karaoke someplace far far away from Atlanta).

We’re barely two weeks into 2011 and after some interesting interviews, conversations, and networking encounters I've decided that the greatest KM need of 2011 is client-centered education on KM (and what it isn't, wasn't, and ain't never gonna be). To that end I've been hard at work revamping my client presentation and organizing (what I think are) some useful articles/white papers and I thought I'd kick-off my first post of the new year with an excerpt from a piece I'm working on entitled "Knowledge Mismanaged".

Best wishes for an adventurous and auspicious new year to all of you!

Knowledge Mismanaged: 7 Common Mistakes Organizations Make Implementing KM

Having an unclear, poorly conceived, inadequate, or nonexistent vision or scope for KM
The literature on KM has come a long way over the last 10 years and even a cursory review reveals that KM isn’t IT, unfortunately explaining what KM isn’t doesn’t always help explain what KM is. That understanding is critical to properly scoping and setting expectations for KM initiatives.

What is knowledge management?
In a nutshell, knowledge management (KM) is the set of strategies organizations develop to improve how knowledge and information resources are shared (identified, captured, organized, and disseminated) and leveraged. As a field, KM is highly multi-disciplinary, encompassing and drawing upon several business functions, many of which are fully developed in their own right (e.g., IT, Strategy, Marketing, Sales, Customer Relationship Management, etc.).

Why invest in knowledge management?
There is no such thing as an organization that isn’t managing knowledge. When organizations express an interest in KM what they are really saying is: “What we’re currently doing isn’t working for us.” A strategic approach to KM is one that, ultimately, focuses on refining and strengthening operational efficiency to target bottom line goals of increased profitability, enhanced and elevated customer/client experience, and improved employee performance and morale.

Failure to conduct a pre-strategy assessment
As with any strategic initiative, assessing the organization prior to initiative launch/implementation is an important first step in identifying the gap between current-state practices and behaviors and the desired future-state. A KM Audit provides insight into the ways in which knowledge and information are shared, and assists in identifying critical KM needs. In addition to serving as a benchmark for strategic planning the KM audit is a valuable tool for building a list of the skills necessary to drive the KM strategy.

Building a KM strategy around a knowledge management system or application
Despite the commonly accepted belief (among KM professionals) that KM is not IT (read: having a KM or content management system does not constitute knowledge management) far too many organizations attempt to follow this route to KM success by purchasing a commercial off the shelf application and building a process or strategy around it. Rather than spending valuable time and money bending your organizational needs around a system or tool, take the time, up-front, to identify your needs and then search for the system and/or tools best suited to meet them.

Developing knowledge management systems in a vacuum
Even when taking a “KM is IT” approach organizations routinely develop their systems, seemingly, in a vacuum failing to obtain sufficient input from assorted users, stakeholders, and usability experts to assess and consider access/usage habits and preferences in order to influence taxonomy schemas and navigational structures.

Retaining the wrong human resources to execute the KM strategy
Otherwise known as, hiring to the level of your ignorance of KM! All KM needs are not the same and neither are the Knowledge Managers tasked with addressing them. Aside from the strategic plan, having the right people to lead and support the KM initiative is the most critical factor in its success. Cutting a swath through the mountain of potential applicants to identify the best candidates is not only dependent upon compiling a relevant, realistic skill-set but in clarifying the type of KM role – Is this an entry-level, junior, or senior position? Is this role technical or strategic? Is the need for a KM expert or a professional (in another field) with KM experience/exposure?

Not collecting data to measure for success
Despite the pressure to demonstrate the ROI of knowledge management, organizations often fail to establish clear, relevant metrics and capture the data necessary to present historical trends about both the information systems in use and the behaviors of the KM strategy’s target audience. Such metrics provide invaluable insight into the extent to which the KM initiative is realizing its goals and achieving its mandate.

Lack of organization-wide KM marketing and education
For some reason organizations seem to think that KM processes, protocols and systems will sell themselves and that the target audience will clamor to get on board the KM-ship. Not so! It’s important to clearly and plainly define what KM means to the organization; sell KM in practical, relevant, digestible chunks, and pursue buy-in at every level.

KM Admonition: In Case of KM Emergency

2010-11-22T11:32:00.000-08:00

KM Attention Trap: Bad Knowledge Management

2010-11-22T10:57:00.000-08:00

The Cult of Knowledge Management

2010-10-25T19:17:00.000-07:00

Although it might not seem like it from all of the activity on this blog, I have been writing my ass off the last few months. Unfortunately, the down side of doing it offline is that I have to rev up my creative juices in order to write as freely as my wit and wrongness require. Thankfully, a little “dab” of Cher and Junior from my undergrad party days at Backstreet seems to help.

Ahhh, the club days. It seems like just yesterday that I was screaming for a DJ and sweating alcohol and second hand smoke into some ridiculous get-up. Wait, it was yesterday – house party, then MJQ and my favorite new cocktail: JD and sweet iced tea. Tell me again when I’m supposed to grow the hell up?!?!?! Well, as long as my Wii fit age is less than my real age I’m gonna keep whippin' my hair back and forth!

Anywho, a few months ago, I was researching social movements for inspiration on KM Branding when I came across a typology of social movements based on the work of the late anthropologist, David Aberle. As shown below, Aberle proposed four types of social movements (Alternative, Redemptive, Reformative, and Revolutionary) that revolved around two questions: (1) Who is the movement attempting to change, and (2) How much change is being advocated?

Alternative social movements seek to facilitate limited change within a limited population. Example: Planned Parenthood, because it’s directed toward people of childbearing age to teach about the consequences of sex.
Redemptive social movements also operate within a limited population, but seek to bring about a radical change. Example: Some religious sects fit here, especially ones that recruit members to be ‘reborn’.
Reformative social movements target the entire population while seeking to facilitate only a limited change. Example: Environmental movements, because they encourage everyone to aid in improving the environment.
Revolutionary social movements seek to (radically) change all of society. Example: The Communist party is one example of a movement seeking to radically alter social institutions.

Since two of my previous approaches – Green KM and Guerrilla KM (‘reformative’ and ‘revolutionary’, respectively) – were a surprising and unexpected fit, I challenged myself to round out the model with two additional approaches: The Cult of KM (Redemptive) and (my upcoming) 12 Step KM (Alternative).

Despite all of the negative information out there about cult leaders and cult formation, I’ve had a blast with the Cult of KM. I suppose it's understandable given that cult leaders aren’t really perceived as the most positive people in the world. Actually, because of their ability to exert influence and authority over others to the extent that folks will do anything for them (and a general lack of hesitation about doing so) cult leaders are an extremely dangerous lot. Still, as much as we condemn them there are plenty of folks out there who wouldn’t mind having their mojo! For knowledge managers, the ability to build a cult-like following can make a world of difference. Like, let’s say, the difference between a bright future and a career change.

Why a Cult of KM?
Let’s be honest, building and championing organizational initiatives can be straight up ridiculous! And, it sure as hell doesn’t get any easier when the initiative involves changing not only processes, but behaviors. The questions people ask regarding change initiatives are reminiscent of the terrible-two’s: Why? Why do I have to change? Why should I change? Does everybody have to change? Aren’t we changing every day? What if I don’t want to change? Can I change into whatever I want? Why do you get to tell me what to change? What’s change?

Just to refresh your memory, the objective of KM Branding is to provide education and promote awareness of KM; in effect, responding to (and attempting to mitigate) these questions as well as the bazillion others you’re sure to be confronted with as you go about doing “that KM voodoo that you do so well”. Contrary to the stereotype, in building a cult of KM you’re not trying to create a mindless mass of followers…unless you are. Hopefully, you’re not quite so sketchy and truly focused on building quality relationships and developing a level of KM understanding that enables its institutionalization.

Unlike (the equally radical) Guerrilla KM, which utilizes more of a grassroots, “power to the people” campaign/approach, a Cult of KM focuses on building social equity (or capital) among a limited, targeted group of organizational stakeholders who are in the best position to help promote and champion KM.

Creating a KM Cult(ure)

“It is important to recognize, however, that so long as only one person holds a religious idea, no true religion exists. We conceptualize successful cult innovation as a social process in which innovators both invent new religious ideas and transmit them to other persons in exchange for rewards.” (Bainbridge & Stark, 1979)

As practitioners, no matter how great we think KM is, it doesn’t mean diddly if we’re the only ones who recognize that greatness. Furthermore, you can be a fuckin’ “A” fantastic knowledge manager with charisma to spare, but if you’re not actively engaged in proselytizing KM (and asserting yourself as the organizational authority on the subject) success will be fleeting, if at all. I mean, c’mon, if you’re not actively engaging the audience you’re after, how the hell are they supposed to know you’re out there? KM may well be the set of strategies developed and pursued to improve how knowledge is shared and leveraged, but executing these strategies isn’t enough – you need to create a movement that elevates KM from good business to a religious experience. No surprise, however, that cultivating this type of experience is easier said than done.

As organizations adapt to rapidly changing markets with continuous efforts to improve operational efficiency, change fatigue has, increasingly, become a common problem across industries. The result: people don’t "fall" for every new fangled trend or technology comes along…especially when it’s marketed as a panacea. The beauty of KM, however, is that managing knowledge is something organizations are constantly and actively engaged in so you don’t have to sell them on KM as a new, profit-making/money-saving fad; you just have to sell them on your ability to improve how the company is managing its knowledge. To do this, you have to demonstrate amazing (prophet-like) awareness, insight and perceptivity into the issues facing the organization while discreetly solving some of these issues – and publicizing the hell out of the results (of course, focusing less on what you did and more on what you achieved to build a reputation).

At any rate, I’m hopeful that shedding some light on these four building blocks of a cult will be useful in securing the influence and social capital necessary to spread the “gospel of KM” in any organization. (Props to Tobias et al, Banbridge & Stark, and Rick DeLong's Socionics blog for providing some of my research material.)

Four Components of a Cult

Compensators
Proselytization
Asserting Authority
Maintaining Control

Roping the Mark: Dispensing Compensation
Every now and then I feel the need to drop an ugly truth about current KM practices that I hope will enlighten a lot more than it exasperates. With absolutely no disrespect to all of the successful, functioning KM initiatives out there, some of you don’t have so much of a KM culture as a Religion of the Yellow Stick in which people are dragged, kicking and screaming, into KM activity rather than brought over at their level of understanding and in their own good time. Granted, time is a crucial factor and conversion isn’t the most expedient route but the long-term success of KM is in its sustainability beyond any mandate. It’s not how many active participants/users (read: seats filled) you might have on any given day (when brandishing your stick), but an accepted belief in KM that leads to ingrained, normalized (read: ritual) KM behavior (practicing and preaching).

This is important to know because securing the buy-in of organizational stakeholders isn’t like converting some “rice Christian” with the promise of KM’s transformational qualities and the customary “quick win”. Nor is it likely that these stakeholders will be lined up outside your door waiting for you to save them (at least not to start with, muahahahaha). No, chances are you’ll be pulling a Carl Lewis running after folks and trying to nail down time to talk about KM, so, like any good salesperson/cult leader (same difference in this context), you have to make your time count.

Banbridge & Stark define compensators as “satisfying articles of faith, postulations that strongly desired rewards will be obtained in the distant future or in some other unverifiable context”. In KM-speak that means having a strong KM value proposition; and by strong I mean tricked out like a Transformer! KM professionals should, at a minimum, already be involved in conducting SWOT analyses, market research, and understanding the history of change initiatives (both failed and successful), the organizational culture, and the general attitude towards change. But, the key to developing the most beguiling and irresistible compensators is in thoroughly understanding the personal and professional needs of your stakeholders. What motivates them – money, power/influence, respect…genuine altruism? Only by understanding their motivations can you exploit them!

I know, I know, I sound like one shady bee-yotch right now, but step outside of my seemingly sinister scenario for a moment into the cold, harsh light of day (and your marks’ shoes) and ask yourself: Aside from a top-down mandate to do so (and people still find ways of ignoring those – you know exactly what I’m talking about) why should any of these people give a rat’s ass about you and your KM initiative? What do they really get out of drinking the kool-aid or swallowing “the little red pill”?

Sidenote: For your sake, I hope that you won’t make the mistake of assuming that just because it’s someone’s job to do something that this argument alone will be sufficient to sway them. And, unless you’re dealing with a hardcore altruist, don’t bank on “the benefit to all” argument. Lastly, please, please, "Dear Lord baby Jesus, lyin' there in his ghost manger, just lookin' at his Baby Einstein developmental videos, learnin' 'bout shapes and colors" don’t try to persuade anyone with the idea that it will make them look good or impress higher ups (even if it will) unless you are absolutely, positively sure that this is their Achilles heel.

That said, if the only answer you can come up with (to my pre-sidenote-rant question) is some tired, re-hashed diatribe on the bennies of KM (blah, blah, blah) then not only should you expect to be blown off (hopefully in a Miss Manners approved fashion), you kinda deserve it. In business, as in life, people prioritize relationships and activities according to what matters most to them (not you). Compensators should be relevant to the mark! You have to find each of their Achilles heel – vanity, ambition, social conscience – and play it (with every ounce of class you possess) to the hilt. Roping the mark is not so much about selling KM as it is about selling yourself as a solutions provider, the answer to their unspoken prayers; you’re “roping” them into a relationship with you in which you are regarded with great respect, thoughtfulness, and consideration.

You want their confidence.

I’m sure that some people may not see the point in separating their KM and “solutions provider” pitches but keep in mind that you’re building a “following” by developing relationships, not by selling a service or product – even your compensators are simply a hook! Every half decent sales professional knows that the highest quality and most enduring buyer-seller relationships are built on trust that has been carefully cultivated – not just having the best price point at the moment. While some of your stakeholders might be characterized (or even self-describe) as having little time for “small talk” or sales pitches with requests that folks simply "cut to the chase", your success as a KM cult leader is dependent upon setting the pace.

The Royal Road: Socializing KM

“…I guess Professor Zueblin is right when he says that thinking is the hardest work many people ever have to do, and they don't like to do any more of it than they can help. They look for a royal road through some short cut in the form of a clever scheme or stunt, which they call the obvious thing to do; but calling it doesn't make it so.” (Excerpted from Obvious Adams, p50)

The classic idea of a cult is that it’s a con, there is no light at the end of the tunnel, pull back the curtain and the all-powerful Oz is a powerless fraud (read: no skills, experience, and/or abilities) who was swept away in a hot air balloon (read: momentum of a, potentially great, idea). So, one might reasonably ask, “If you’ve got the goods and can deliver on your promises, then why all the hoopla, why the need for the con-like approach?” Basically? Because people like to be schmoozed, they want to be seduced…they want to believe that there is a “there” out there! As the timeless tale of Obvious Adams illustrates, some folks have a difficult time acknowledging and accepting the perfect simplicity in a strategy or idea; a fact that leaves many susceptible to idiots and con-men (go you!!). So, it advances the cause (well, your cause, at any rate) to craft a mythology around KM, wrapping the KM vision and strategy within a grand illusion that sets stakeholders off on a great adventure down a royal road to the solution they’re seeking.

Before you “poo poo” the idea, consider that any idiot can offer a solution – what makes yours stand-out, what gives it substance and merit, makes it worth listening to? The ability to deliver solutions with an appropriate and convincing display of showmanship is an art that distinguishes “good” from "great". Mythologies, like fairy-tales, are an enduring, time tested medium for imparting knowledge, wisdom and values. And, unlike, many traditional business communiqués, they travel well across an organization (nothing travels better than gossip, conjecture, and enigmatic tales). In addition to the fun, excitement and entertainment value inherent in this approach (fun is not anathema to business no matter what you learned in B-school), a well-crafted mythology can be an effective tool for piquing interest in and sparking discussion about KM, socializing the KM vision and desired values of knowledge sharing, and promoting KM’s various services and benefits.

"It [the fairy tale] addresses itself to the child’s sense of courage and adventure. The tale advises the child: Take your courage in hand and go out to meet the world head on. According to Bruno Bettelheim, the fairy tale offers this promise: If you have courage and if you persist, you can overcome any obstacle, conquer any foe.

"By recognizing a child’s daily fears, appealing to his courage and confidence, and by offering hope, the fairy tale presents the child with a means by which he can understand the world and himself. And those who would deodorize the tales impose a fearsome lie upon the child. J.R.R. Tolkien cautioned, “It does not pay to leave a dragon out of your calculations if you live near him." (The Read-Aloud Handbook, Jim Trelease)

Perhaps one of the most pervasively frustrating issues hounding knowledge management professionals – regardless of experience or organizational type – revolves around making KM work. Often, the answer lies, simply, in making KM real – an actual organizational challenge requiring an actual strategic solution. I mean, hey, if you can’t sell KM, then how do you expect to sell a KM solution? And, continuing my trend of advising on what not to assume, don’t assume that just because a KM need has been identified (as evidenced by the job posting that lead to you getting hired) that there is universal agreement on what KM is or the best approach to managing KM-related issues. Even in the (shocking, amazing) event that such consensus exists, there will, likely, still be a need to socialize KM that will facilitate building the foundation for your emergence as the KM cult leader (a.k.a solutions provider). After all, unlike charlatans of old who relied upon deception and ambiguity, the solution you are offering truly exists! The mythology you create not only illuminates, placing a spotlight on organizational needs with a colorful, inventive lamp, it also demonstrates a profound awareness and understanding of these needs and spreads the message (the “good word”) that there is an enlightened and achievable way of meeting these needs.

See there, you’re not some ratchet con-man – you’re offering an explanation for phenomena beyond folks comprehension, a sense of security in the face of uncertainty, and most of all, you’re offering hope …hope that there is a reason, that there is a way, that there are answers to all of the unanswered questions and unmet needs. Really, your organization is so lucky to have you.

And it’s important you make sure they know it.

Parting the Sea: Asserting Your Guru-ness

“In life one has to face a huge assortment,
Of nauseating fads and good advice,
There's health and fitness, diet and deportment,
And other pointless forms of sacrifice,
Conversation? Wit? I am a doubter,
Manners? Charm? They're no way to impress,
So forget the inner me, observe the outer,
I am what I wear and how I dress"
(Excerpted from My Strongest Suit, Aida)

Generally speaking, I’m not a fan of proselytization, particularly when it comes to spiritual matters. I’ve always felt that God, who set the stars in the Heavens and created the Earth and the Sea and all life on this planet probably doesn’t need PR (especially when you consider some of the people speaking on His/Her behalf). Color me crazy, but I’m thinking the work speaks for itself, y’know? But hey…that’s my take.

Wannabe cult leaders on the other hand, could definitely benefit! Shameless self-promotion may be gauche but what’s the use of spreading “the good word” of KM if folks don’t know that there’s a bonafide KM guru in their midst? You’ve gained their trust, you’ve spread the gospel, now it’s time to reap the harvest.

When you compare the roles typically ascribed to a guru (teacher, leader, motivator, counselor) against the ones a Knowledge Manager must play (all of the above PLUS evangelist, confidant, problem solver, hand-holder, networker, make-shit-happen-er) the gap between guru and Knowledge Manager is virtually non-existent…that is, if you have the cojones to take the leap! For those of you that do, a few pointers..."

Pursue stealth relationships.
In their book Captive Hearts, Captive Minds authors Tobias, Lalich, and Langone describe cult leaders as having "an outstanding ability to charm and win over followers. They beguile and seduce. They enter a room and garner all the attention. They command the utmost respect and obedience." Acquiring the initial trust of your mark is only the first step in building long-term relationships that deepen your rapport, strengthen your influence, and enable you to discreetly identify and discover critical needs (and by that, I mean plural – go hard or go home!) so that you can manifest solutions seemingly out of thin air. The key is in identifying multiple needs that you address at your discretion (not theirs) which reinforces the notion that you are indeed the Wizard of KM and not a one hit wonder.
Be a problem solver, not a problem explainer.
Although I’m fond of being “Mr. Full Disclosure” and a firm believer in transparency, the culty-guru in me recognizes that my effectiveness isn’t tied to these goody-goody character traits. Both you and your audience (but mostly you) want to feel like you are a miracle worker, so cut to the chase. Problem solve with minimal to no explanation of how. For solutions with long-term benefits, avoid speaking too much about them up front so that you can mine them for future wins. Take metrics, for example, unless it’s a key part of the solution being provided, don’t disclose that you’re tracking them until you generate your first report. Besides, too much time spent on talking about a problem (or its solution) is just going to give folks a headache anyway.
Keep it cool and zen-like.
While there are moments when showing a chink in the armor (never more than two) can be beneficial to growing your legend, the ability to project awe-inspiring confidence and intrepidness along with an uncanny sense of control are important assets for a culty-guru. Fueling the flame of (belief in) your enlightenment requires anticipating and planning for future needs and challenges in order to remain two steps ahead of your stakeholders while giving the appearance of either being nonchalant or excited (whichever feels right) about these developments. Keep in mind that when your stakeholders are stressed out, it’s business as usual; when you’re stressed out, there’s a problem. Also, god-like confidence: sexy as hell!
Think before you act and act before you speak!
Deliver on the promise of something great and transformative by speaking more with your actions and less with your words. And, when you do speak (for example, in a meeting where solutions are being solicited), speak plainly, directly (matter of fact), and succinctly, declaring your solution as if it were the most natural and obvious thing in the world. Mind Control 101 author JK Ellis offers the following advice: “Be accessible as a person but present your knowledge and wisdom as being rare, expensive, mysterious, and only for those who are truly ready for it. This compromise allows you to build deep personal bonds with people yet have them want more of your presence."
Manage your accessibility.
Given your target audience, you should fully expect potential followers to be high on need and low on time (for anyone or anything they don’t consider a priority), ensuring that you – capable, ambitious, self-directed minx that you are – are always in demand. But do not, I repeat, do not, make yourself available to be anyone’s problem-solving bitch! Building a cult of KM isn’t just about branding KM you’re also branding yourself! Remember that not only are you an expert but you’re the expert providing critical solutions, so, at a minimum, be only as available as your adherents. Why is this important? Because if your target audience fails to fully appreciate your time and talent then the social equity you’ve been questing after (“my precious”) ain’t gonna happen. Social equity isn’t conferred just because you made shit happen, it’s given because your expertise is valued, respected, and greatly desired. Plus, being available at the drop of a dime gives the impression that you’re a genie in a bottle.
Build (and maintain) the mystery.
Downplay the amount of work involved in making KM happen. Create the illusion that executing KM is a magical process, regardless of the actual work involved. You want stakeholders to believe that you have a gift for making KM work beyond anything that they could do themselves. Hold fast to this knowledge – your job is to improve sharing of organizational information, not your trade secrets. And when you do share, don’t give it out like candy.
Herd the sheep, reinforce the message.
When creating a movement of this magnitude it’s easy to get lost in the sea of glory, power, and public exaltation that is sure to mark your ascension however, in addition to the many feats of awesomeness you will, no doubt, perform, it’s important to regularly set aside time to “light the way” for your flock. Being a leader (and physical manifestation of KM) means being a mentor…a shepherd. You must accept your responsibility for providing guidance and wisdom. By creating and seizing learning opportunities – the teachable moment – to improve their understanding and awareness of KM and good knowledge sharing principles not only are you actively involved in shaping their concept of KM, you are asserting yourself as the authority on all things KM.

The Wizard of KM: Maintaining Control
The Wizard of Oz is an excellent example of how effective good mythology and creative theatre can be used to advance an agenda. This dude, literally, blew into a cult leader’s dream – an entire town eagerly willing to offer up their hopes, submit to delusions, and confer power upon some jamoke in a hot air balloon. He didn’t even have to create his own mythology just perpetuate the one they built for him! Sadly, his masterful, though deceitful, use of theatre was less about consolidating power (‘cause he really didn’t have any) and more about not getting busted and, possibly, killed by a wicked witch. In the end, his duplicity was uncovered by a dog.

A dog. Damn.

Despite the potential sketchy-ness of the tactics I espouse in building a KM Cult, I still believe it can be achieved without sacrificing the values of sustainability, empowerment, and community development that epitomize my KM vision (“reaaally I do, reaaally”). Having a hustle doesn’t mean that you can’t be sincere and on the up-and-up (or mean that you’re the anti-Knowledge Manager). Neither does having good intentions mean that you have to be Mother Teresa. In fact, after all the work you’ve put into cultivating your little movement, you’re going to need a dab of “slick Rick” and a bit of theatre to ensure its continued success by keeping your flock on the straight and narrow and fending off dime store demagogues! The triple threat you’ll definitely want to stay on top of:

Time constraints that interfere with stakeholder participation/indoctrination
Stakeholder skepticism
Stakeholder belief that their regular input is unnecessary or irrelevant

While theatre is a useful tool for engaging and amusing stakeholders (e.g., creating a name and special language for the cult; using nicknames to promote camaraderie; assigning totems and gifting physical representations, etc.) the weapon of choice for maintaining control is, without a doubt, thought reform.

As defined by Dr. Margaret Thaler Singer, thought reform (a.k.a. "brainwashing"; I prefer “behavior modification” for our purposes) is the “systematic and incremental application of psychological and social influence techniques to produce specific attitudinal and behavioral changes.” These changes are meant to occur without being immediately noticeable to the mark but I have a hard time seeing some of the more traditional techniques making any sort of a splash in a corporate environment. Come on, ritual dieting and fasting: Food is what gets most people through the workday so unless you plan on slipping something into their Lean Cuisine you’re not likely to change their diet or cause them to quit eating full-stop. And, while you might get some attention for going on a food strike I guarantee it won’t be the kind you’re after. Then there’s group pressure and “love bombing”: You don’t have to force singing, hugging, touching, and flattery on anyone – this stuff happens easily enough under the influence of alcohol at Happy Hours and raucous holiday parties all the time! Unless your strategy is to blackmail anyone stupid enough to get caught on film, you might wanna take a pass. My favorite has to be isolation and separation: are you kidding me, most folks pray for the opportunity to be isolated and separated from colleagues and co-workers.

Luckily, I’ve outlined a list of more useful tactics for altering stakeholders’ perception of KM.

Meditation, Affirmations, and Admonitions…Oh My!

Objective:

Rationale:

Sharing in Community

Objective:

Rationale:

Stigmatize Wrong Behavior

Objective:

Rationale:

Build Attention Traps

Objective:

Rationale:

Attention Economy

The Tao of KM

Objective:

Rationale:

Quick & Dirty: Academically Smart, Practically Brilliant (Thoughts on a KM Consultancy)

2010-07-14T12:23:00.000-07:00

Like Wimbledon, June has come and gone. And while I didn't miss a second of the tennis action (Venus and Fed's shocking upsets; ReRe and Rafa's unsurprising wins), I was decidedly less committed to my blog.

In my defense, immediately following the Memorial Day holiday I made the decision to focus on developing a new business strategy for my fledgling consultancy throughout the month of June and it's certainly required the committment.

I'm not fully prepared to write a manifesto on the process (yet, though I'd like to at some point), but I could sure use a few minutes to eject some mental debris (read: bitch, moan, gripe about) regarding my primary challenges strategizing an independent KM consultancy

Determining service offerings: One of the driving factors in my decision to launch a consultancy was the growing realization that a lot of smaller and mid-sized organizations have a KM need that isn't being met by larger consulting firms, particulary in the areas of KM Auditing and strategic planning, but even with that limited focus it’s amazing to me what the scope of work encompasses around these services. I'm finding that it's super critical to outline in detail exactly what you will (and can) do and what you won’t (and can’t) do. Not only will this help you manage the demands on your time (remember that you’re not just doing the work, you’re building a consultancy – managing your time is trés critical), it also helps you to identify potential opportunities (and markets) within the scope of your services. Furthermore, when you're having a conversation with clients and prospects about your services, I think it makes you sound polished - like you’ve got your shit together, instead of bumbling through the discussion with comments like, “hmm, I think I can do that, let me look into it and I’ll get back to you”. Or worse, agreeing to do a job without fully understanding the committment and constraints. After all, the ability to properly gauge your pricing methodology and ensure that your contracts/SOWs are very specific is key to ensuring that you aren’t giving away your time and killing yourself with work you’re not getting paid for and.

Establishing a pricing methodology: Speaking about pricing, lol. I remember back in the day when I was an assistant in E&Y’s HR Consulting Practice. Strange as it may seem, I used to love working with the various studies and reports; I just loved having ready access to data. How I wish there were similar reports on KM compensation or pricing on KM services. I’ve had some assistance from generic Google hits on pricing consulting services that provided insight to setting baseline hourly consulting fees (i.e., think beyond converting annual compensation to an hourly rate plus bennies, also consider overhead expenses and generating revenue in order to grow your business; understand what the market will bear, but also consider value pricing your services; yadda yadda yadda) and I've had a little (mostly unenlightening, though greatly appreciated) dialogue over at LinkedIn.

It truly is an alchemical process.

Once I've had some real-time feedback from actual clients and prospects and made the necessary adjustments, I will definitely post some helpful guidelines specific to KM on this subject.

Marketing KM services: If I didn't already know this (as a one-time Marketing major and earnest believer in the power Branding), then I sure as hell would now - you really have to know who you are, what service you can/will offer (as well as it's valu), and who your (potential) market before you should even put out a shingle. And you really should be thinking five steps ahead (of your clients, prospects, and competitors). Setting up a website, rifling through your contacts, and even pounding the pavement just won’t cut it. This is a niche field and you have to sell yourself not only as an expert, but as a real-life practitioner, someone who’s been in the trenches – Academically smart, practically brilliant.

As much as I love to inform the field, I’m knee deep in setting up my own practice so I’m not hardly about to lay my marketing strategy out for public consumption, but I will say that you have to 1) brand yourself as well as you’d brand your KM strategies and 2) craft your marketing messages wisely.

I'm finding that, in many ways, setting up a (hopefully) successful KM consultancy, is a lot like developing a successful KM strategy: apply the KISS methodology liberally; keep an eye on the details (dot your "I's" and cross your "T's"); don't be afraid to seek out impartial (professional) opinions; practice pragmatism (expect the best, plan for the worst), and; always, ALWAYS be more adventurous than afraid.

Bloggerview: Denis Meingan

2010-06-04T10:50:00.000-07:00

Blogger View - Denis Meingan

Out of The Box - Week Ending 05/28

2010-06-01T08:26:00.000-07:00

Sooooooo, while nearly my entire posse spent Memorial Day weekend partying across the USA (well, Lil Magic not so much, but he's new to Austin so it kinda feels like he took a vacay) I enjoyed a relaxing weekend housesitting and taking care of Luke the cat, and Button's the dog (which means being their willing, human bitch - seriously, I'm not even a dog person and I love this animal), chillin' at the Jazz Festival on Saturday with Kelley and Nick, and watching the French Open religiously (whodathunk Robby Ginepri would be the last American man standing? Go May-retta!!). And, thanks to the power of cable, I watched a couple of movies I've passed at Block-head-buster many, many times. Adam and Steve proved that my instincts were spot on, but Zack and Miri Make a Porno just blasted to the top of the list of my favorite flicks!

Anywho, although I didn't do nearly as much writing this weekend as I thought I would, but I did manage to do some reading.

Trend of the Week: Is the so-called 'Statusphere' a hot branding trend which your KM efforts should be leveraging or a whole lotta BS?
Not one, not two, but three articles from Psychology Today on the power of sunshine. I suppose the lesson here is to pursue critical KM work on sunny days.
Epiphany of the Week: Timely and much needed wisdom from the ever inspriational Mark Pollard and sagacious Pamela Slim
How To of the Week: Six Ways To Spy On The Competition. If you have to resort to spying on the competition, I don't think it says much about the quality of your product or the ability of your sales folks but these tips are great for gaining insight into opportunities for KM in your organization.
Questions of the Week: Is Enterprise Architecture (EA) just another name for Knowledge Management and why does it seem that Booz Allen keeps trying to talk around KM
Economics ain't the only field that needs a new way of connecting employers with candidates!

Lil Jackie's KM Lifecycle: A Different Look

2010-05-26T19:44:00.000-07:00

Thank God in Heaven above that this month is almost over.

Between the hard to schedule tennis matches, besties birthdays, and trying to avoid being in the middle of my parent's divorce (which my mother seems hell-bent to drag me into regardless of my protestations) May has been a tough month. Although there were some highlights, like quality time with Lil Magic who starts his dream job this week, spending much needed social time with my "South Cackalacky" girl, Nina, and playing a rawkin' game of Assassin for Brandy's birthday party. It was awesome! My crew took over a section of East Atlanta Village strapped with Nerf guns and lookin' good. Every "death" seemed like something out of a movie scene (even mine, sadly). We're definitely going to be doing that again.

So, I've been studying social movements over the last year and have drawn a lot of inspiration for my work and theories on KM. My Guerrilla KM post is just one example. During my research I came across this fantastic white paper on the Four Stages of Social Movements that got me thinking about the lifecycle of Knowledge Management. As you all know, KM Branding is one of my "things" and I'm always searching for novel approaches to educating folks about the field. The 'Four Stages' had me wondering about the lifecycle of a strategic approach to KM; exploring the way(s) in which KM impacts the organization and how it "lives" from inception of a strategy through to the ultimate goal of cultural adoption/integration (or rejection, if the strategy is unsuccessful).

Now, I'm familiar with traditional models of the Knowledge Lifecycle that (like the example at left) illustrate some variation of the identify-capture-organize-disseminate framework, but these models seem geared more towards providing insight into knowledge rather than knowledge management (although McElroy's model, wordy though it is, offers up a bit more "meat"). And, at the risk of splitting hairs, these processes aren't, in my opinion, particularly cyclical. In fact, you can (and should) be engaged in a variety of these processes concurrently.

Anywho, using the "Four Stages" as a foundation, (Lil Jackie and) I came up with the following model outlining four proposed stages in the KM Lifecycle:

Note: There isn't any timeline applied to any of these stages, I perceive that organizations will move from one to the next as the time is right.

Stage I: Acknowledgement

Organizations either recognize the need for a strategic approach to their KM efforts or, following a previously unsuccessful strategy, initiate pursuit of a new approach.
Organizations may attempt to build a KM strategy themselves or, optimally, seek out the services of an “expert” to assist in some combination of organizational analysis (e.g., SWOT, GAP or KM Audit), strategic planning, and strategy execution.

Stage II: Mobilization

Organizations take an active (versus passive) approach to KM by executing a series of strategies to improve how knowledge is managed, including a Branding strategy focused on mobilizing awareness and support of the KM initiative.
During this stage, KM attempts to build social equity by demonstrating its value, benefit and utility to a broad range of stakeholders.

Stage III: Leverage

Following some success with mobilizing wider support of knowledge management (through aggressive Branding, documented "wins" and success stories, converting skeptics, etc.) the KM function has acquired some social equity and is perceived as less of a niche function or “pet project”.
The KM function (assertively) leverages the social equity it has acquired to influence a wider range of strategic planning efforts across the organization.

Stage IV: Normalization

At this stage, the practice, awareness, and understanding of KM is normalized across the organization. The degree and quality of this normalization (the extent to which KM and its activities are regarded as a "natural" part of the regular working environment) is indicative of the level of success or failure of the KM initiative.
A fully successful strategy is one in which KM has achieved cultural adoption and integration as identified by the following characteristics:

Organization-wide awareness and understanding of knowledge management - its purpose, benefit, and importance
An organizational culture possessed of a spirit of knowledge stewardship in which everyone is, at a minimum, aware of their individual responsibility to share and collaborate in community
Continuously evolving policies, practices, and technology tools that reflect, promote, and support a culture of knowledge sharing
Widespread, regular, active usage of KM tools and participation in community development efforts (such as CoPs).

A partially successful strategy might be one where KM fails to realize its potential (as previously described) owing to a number of factors (i.e., the culture is heavily change resistant; folks leading KM efforts were not aggressive, assertive or savvy enough to navigate the politics of the organization; or, the strategy simply wasn’t effective, etc.). Essentially, instead of KM positively influencing change in how the organization operates, the organization unduly influences how KM is implemented, limiting its role and impact. An example might be an organization that begins its KM initiative with a limited or narrow scope of the role that KM will play and resists widening this scope resulting in an implementation that provides exactly what was desired, but fails to deliver on the full potential of KM.
A completely failed strategy is one in which KM has been unsuccessful in achieving cultural adoption and integration resulting in the termination of the initiative. Termination is likely the result of a poor Branding strategy and failure to properly educate stakeholders - particularly leadership – on the importance and value of KM and consistently obtain buy-in at key strategy milestones.
A repressed or limited KM strategy doesn't have to remain so, indefinitely. Assuming that KM has experienced some success and "wins" and acquired some measure of equity, it is likely that KM will be perceived as having value - just not enough to immediately propel it to a higher/stronger role in the organization.
Likewise, strategy failure isn't necessarily a death sentence for KM. Assuming that the initial need for KM is still present (and acknowledged), it is probable that a new strategy will (inevitably) be pursued and/or new "experts" brought on board to implement it.

One final note: Unlike the "Four Stages" model, I don't see a point at which KM efforts will ever truly decline and by that, I mean, I don’t think that you should ever stop being actively involved in shaping your KM efforts. Instead I think that organizations will and should continue to pursue optimal normalization. Once that has been achieved, they will then employ a series of strategies to maintain that state. Interestingly, this whole process has had me questioning one of my core beliefs that Knowledge Managers should be working themselves out of a job. I do see this as a goal, perhaps, for smaller organizations (when an organization’s strategic planning includes KM as part of the overall process, not as a separate function). But, for larger organizations, I could see someone operating at a CKO role in the same manner an organization would employ a CFO or SVP of Marketing.

Truly, I guess you live, you learn (and then you buy Luvs!)

So there it is. As usual, all constructive feedback, criticisms and comments are welcome!

Peace out!

Lil Jackie's Elements of a KM Audit

2010-05-04T12:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, April just totally flew by! I'd feel bad about not blogging so much last month except that the weather picked up and, social butterfly that I am, I was more focused on playing tennis and getting my "swerve" on (that is, when I wasn't watching Glee, Project Runway, or catching up on General Hospital on YouTube).

Hey, I won't apologize for having a life (or succumbing to the boob tube).

Although, I do think that Dublin owes me a HUGE friggin' apology for coming in 7th at the Kentucky Derby. I could've used my winnings from the derby party I went to on Saturday to finance my drunken disorderly conduct during "Cinco de Drinko" tomorrow. Ah well, c'est la vie. At least I had KFC's Double Down to help fill the void loss brings - in my arteries! Actually, it tasted great, despite the fact that they really should consider swapping the Pepperjack (too spicy) for Monterey or Swiss and add lettuce and tomato to make it taste "fresher".

Anywho, I've been giving my KM Audit a bit of a spring cleaning to spruce it up for 2010. For those not in the know, a KM Audit is a type of action research aimed at understanding the ways in which an organization shares knowledge and information. Subsequently, the data collected from the KM Audit is used to develop and inform the KM strategy. While some folks use the auditing process solely to kick-off their KM efforts, I subscribe to the belief that a KM Audit should be an annual experience. Not only does it provide a regular status update/reality check of KM activity, it helps to illustrate the impact of a long-term, strategic KM initiative to organizational stakeholders. It also doubles as a great marketing tool for KM.

An effective KM Audit should be designed to identify and evaluate:

Formal (‘how things should be shared’) and informal (‘how things are actually being shared’) knowledge sharing practices and behaviors.
The variety of knowledge, information, and content management systems (and their usage) across the organization.
Perceptions and expectations of knowledge management
Organizational needs and challenges related to sharing knowledge and information

As illustrated in the graphic below, the KM Audit utilizes a mix of research methods to achieve these results.

The Policy Review can be conducted before, during, or after the survey, but I think that doing it before (particularly when it's the inaugural audit) might help to inform survey construction. Likewise with the 1-on-1 Interviews; Focus groups, however, should be put off until after the survey, since it's those results which will determine discussion topics. As far as the Survey, standard rules of survey design apply - keep it simple, keep it brief, make sure questions are clear and concise, and, resist the temptation to ask EVERYTHING. Your questions should help you to paint a picture, not the Sistine Chapel. Lastly,since you'll be wanting to make comparisons from year-to-year, be sure that your survey will stand the test of time.

Two important points to consider about the KM Auditing process:

It's okay if you only pursue 1 or 2 elements instead of all 3.
Having a documented, well thought out Implentation/Execution Plan of Action (PoA) is essential

Take your pick
I'm a talker so I'm fond of saying many things over and over again. One of my personal faves is the "Right Way vs the Best Way": We don't always have the opportunity to do things the "right" way; sometimes we simply do things the best way we can, but when we can do things the "right" way, we should make every effort to do so. As a KM practitioner, I know that this is a daily reality in our work. If you have the time and the buy-in to undertake a full KM Audit, then do it to it! But, if you're only able to pursue 1 or 2 elements, it's okay, just be mindful of the data that you're not capturing (and be sure that your data reporting reflects this).

Action planning
A successful KM Audit isn't one that just gives you the results you were hoping for. A successful KM Audit is one that is rolled out on time and yields a great participation/response rate. And, if experience has taught me anything, it's that the key to a successful KM Audit is planning the hell out of things. Don't make assumptions, make a plan of action! Some of the highlights of my audit action plans include:

Prior to its launch, conduct a review of the survey (for content and language) by KM team members and key organizational stakeholders, particularly those involved in Operations, Communications, Marketing, and IT (if that department manages any KM tools/applications)
Following it's review, the survey should be set-up using the pre-determined administration vehicle (e.g., SurveyMonkey) and user tested for clarity, language, level of difficulty, and length of time to completion and modified accordingly.
Organize a full-fledged marketing campaign for the KM Audit. Depending on your budget, the audit can be supported using the following marketing channels: common area posters, table toppers, and digital displays; email alerts; intranet announcements; department leads; senior management; and knowledge management system (KMS) “power users”. It's also a good idea to set an official launch date for your KM Audit with an email from senior leadership describing the purpose and importance of the auditing process. Subsequent email reminders can be distributed by the KM team.
Detail the process for how data will be compiled, analyzed and reported (including to and by whom)

And I think that does it for this post...at least, I hope I've covered all of my bases here. Between the overwhelming smell of Caribou's coffee and my Dan Fogelberg playlist I'm now sleepy, nauseous, and hungry which means it's time to hop in the car, crank up Spose and take a little ride over to KFC before my tennis match this afternoon.

Peace!

Bloggerview: Nirmala Palaniappan

2010-04-20T12:47:00.000-07:00

Bloggerview: Nirmala Palaniappan

Bloggerviews are here!

2010-04-20T12:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I managed to survive Atlanta's crazy festival weekend. Although I didn't make it over to the Robotics Convention, the Sweetwater 420 Festival or the return of Freaknik (as if I would even be bothered to participate in that hot ass mess...again, lol) the 2010 Dogwood Festival provided the perfect way to enjoy a low-pollen Saturday - despite the fact that our resident Bulgarian, Nick, couldn't seem to grasp the concept of "casually" walking through the park, exploring the various art vendors and just whiling away the day. Thankfully, Nick "gets" beer, so no one was harmed as we made our way to Joes on Juniper for beer and lunch (sooooo much cheaper than it was being sold in the Park).

Anywho, after months of thinking about it, I'm finally getting around to creating my Bloggerview posts. I was inspired to create these posts profiling KM professionals because...well, because I tend to suck at career-related networking. I mean, I can meet and recruit tennis players like it's nobody's business and I'm a pretty solid wing-man (no matter what my friend Iker says), but clearly I needed a class in Networking for Career Success.

The goal of these Bloggerviews is to profile KM professionals and, as inspired by management author, guru and academian, Henry Mintzberg, hopefully offer some insight into the work that Knowledge Managers do as a practical resource for folks in the field, folks considering the field, and organizations exploring how they can improve their KM strategies. With any luck, these posts will not only expand my KM-universe, but serve as a great resource for others.

For those interested, you can check out my profile by following this link. Future profiles will be embedded in the blog. If you'd like to submit your own profile, send me an email to: youngde1@gmail.com.

Cheers!

Out of The Box - Week Ending 04/09

2010-04-12T22:44:00.000-07:00

It's official, dim sum is dead in Atlanta! For the third time in two months I've attempted to satiate my appetite for the little bites of Chinese culinary goodness (at three different, formerly brilliant) restaurants and the for the third - at last time - I've been disappointed with food that is served cold (off of steaming carts, no less) and fails to please the palate. Thank God for Pho!

Anyway, the last week - when I haven't been obsessed with food - I've been thinking a lot about how the lack of understanding of KM among organizational leadership contributes to the failure of KM initiatives. This week's mix of articles provide some truly out of the box insight into KM branding and re-thinking the role and influence of KM.

Knowledge in action!The role of social influence in surging autism diagnoses makes me wonder how and what organization's transmit KM knowledge and awareness, externally, from their clients and competitors and, internally, from one another.
(Not so new) Trend of the Week: Crowdsourcing Popular, neologistic term, for outsourcing tasks to a large, diffuse group, usually without monetary compensation. While companies who attempt to abuse this concept will, inevitably, hit a wall, it's a fantastic way to engage your audience as part of your branding strategy.
The fascinating Nature.com article, Learning in the wild, points out the relationship between learning and personal interest; basically, people learn and take the time to become informed when a subject is personal. Knowledge managers looking to Brand their strategies and improve strategy adoption should learn from this insight.
Shout out to mystrategicplan.com for connecting me to Pamela Slim's Escape from Cubicle Nation blog
Question of the Week: Is it possible to create workspaces and workplaces that influence the creation, flow, and capture of knowledge?
Guerrilla marketing at its finest, now I just need to figure out how to leverage this from a KM perspective.
What role does your KM strategy play in providing input into the content and format of your companies annual report.
Reputation management in the digital space. Well written post from Mark Pollard on Cadbury's foray into social media

Tips for 2010 (A Fluffy, Feel Good "Forward")

2010-04-01T14:54:00.000-07:00

I'm not in the habit of posting "forwarded emails" but this one put a smile on my face and knowing how taxing our work can be on us, I figured I'd share.

Health:

Drink plenty of water.
Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
Make time to pray.
Play more games.
Read more books than you did in 2009.
Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
Sleep for 7 hours.
Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:

Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
Don't have negative thoughts over things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
Don't over do. Keep your limits.
Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
Dream more while you are awake.
Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
Smile and laugh more.
You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree...

Society:

Call your family often.
Each day give something good to others.
Forgive everyone for everything.
Spend time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.
Try to make at least three people smile each day.
What other people think of you is none of your business.
Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:

Do the right thing!
Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
GOD heals everything.
However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
The best is yet to come.
When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
Your innermost is always happy. So, be happy.

Quick & Dirty: When KM Takes Over HR

2010-03-31T14:31:00.000-07:00

Today was a good day.

I slept in late, made a little headway in catching up on my backlog of General Hospital episodes, cooked up a tasty pot of frijoles negros (even though they were a little bootleg since I didn't feel like running to the Farmers Market to buy some recao and ajies dulces peppers), enjoyed a good long phone call with my brother Reed and even spent time with my mother's cat Silky (aka Evil The Cat) that didn't result in me getting clawed or hissed at. And then I took a nap.

Yes, today was a good day. So, of course, my blog post is a bitch fest. Wah-waaaaaah.

When I haven't been playing tennis, planning the development of my indie KM consultancy, or dating in the ATL (which is like old school Freddy Krueger flicks; funny and bloody), I've been hunting down the next great KM opportunity. Although I manage to learn a lot about the KM activities and needs of various companies and industries during job searches, pounding the pavement is never a pleasure, mostly because so many company's recruitment process are the equivalent of using a dull guillotine in death penalty cases - medieval and unnecessarily messy.

In the interest of full disclosure, I've never been particularly fond of how HR carries out its function (my undergraduate minor is in Human Resources) and I am a big advocate of absorbing HR into KM (not the other way around) for all of the reasons that Keith Hammonds wrote about in his 2005 Fast Company article, "Why We Hate HR". However, until that day comes, I'd love to share some KM wisdom with those shiny, happy, people persons.

Quit overusing online application systems
Stop getting all up in my business until you're ready to make an offer
Enough with the pre-interview questionnaires already
Please let me know when you're done with me

All right, enough bitching. I could go on, but I'm all about the teachable moment. When the day does come that KM takes over the HR function, these are some of the the programs I plan to implement:

Right use of online application systems
Owning the recruitment process
Integrating KM to improve knowledge stewardship
Fashionable Fridays

KM: Making The Business Case

2010-03-30T13:35:00.001-07:00

It never fails that March comes around and I become a total "flogger" (flakey blogger). In my defense, my family celebrates a birthday each week for the first three weeks of the month. Plus, this year, my lesbian wife, Brandy, gave me the fantastic gift of a five-day trip to Chicago during which "the Braintrust" (her and Lil Magic) and I endeavored to make as many bad decisions as possible. Although we lived up to the immortal words of Dr. Venkman ("We came, we saw, we kicked its ass!") I was both elated and disappointed to discover that I'm not as "wrong" (read: scandalous) as I think I am (and as my birth date, 3/15, suggests). Sadly, age brings maturity and wisdom.

Somebody should do something about that.

Anywho, I've got 2 days left in the best month on the calendar (don't agree? Ask someone Irish...holla!!) and in-between matches (this weather is too perfect not to play as much tennis as possible) I figured I should make-up for my ir-writ-sponsibility.

Last month, I was stoked to have a revised version of my Guerrilla KM post published in InsideKnowledge magazine. Seeing yourself in print for the first time is like your first kiss...too sweet! I'm following this up with a contribution on Making the Business Case for KM but the downside of writing for a magazine is all of the editing that needs to be done. Don't get it twisted, I'm happy with the end result, but I kinda like the extraneous ramblings I include in my writing. Fortunately, I gots me a license to blog, hardy har har, so I can share with y'all the (mostly) unedited piece.

When I was a grad student in the University of Southern Maine’s most excellent College of Education and Human Development, I wrote a paper on critical technology issues of knowledge management in which I summarized an episode of the 1990's TV version of La Femme Nikita. In the episode, Section One, an ultra-covert, counter-terrorist agency, carried out a plan to “upload” to its computers the knowledge and memories of all its operatives in a gambit to create – at will – “perfect” agents with the collected knowledge of years of training and experience. I wrote, then, that despite its sci-fi appeal, this was exactly the method to managing knowledge many organizations seemed to be attempting (and most interested in aping). Nine years later, it seems to me that for far too many organizations, this is still the reigning concept of what KM is all about.

Since I’ve dedicated 2010 to evangelizing the importance of a KM value proposition, it seems only fitting that I should write about making the business case for KM. Whether you’re engaging in an initial discussion or re-branding knowledge management efforts, the ability to define, rationalize and set expectations of KM is a critical cornerstone of a successful and sustainable KM initiative.

As usual, before climbing onto my soapbox, I looked to the literature to see what’s already been written on the subject and, frankly, I wasn’t impressed. Dale Neef’s 1997 article, “Making the Case for Knowledge Management: The Bigger Picture” seems less concerned with making the case for KM as it is with providing a list of considerations for developing a KM strategy. David Skyrme’s 2001 article, “Making the Business Case for Knowledge Management: As Simple as ABC?” offers three “planks” on which to justify knowledge management (asset value, benefits potential, and cost effectiveness) that leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. Perhaps, because I subscribe to the belief that KM (as a discipline) requires explanation rather than justification. Save the pleading for your strategy. Lastly, Yelden & Albers 2004 article, “The Business Case for Knowledge Management” advocates delivering a comprehensive KM strategy that identifies “all the options available with the associated risks involved with each choice” since “[c]learly delineating the expected hard and soft benefits of each aspect of the initiative aid in effectively justifying its need.” Not only is this impractical, the amount of up front information this approach calls for is completely overboard. It also fails to consider the implications of proposing a strategic solution to stakeholders whose understanding of KM – which might run the gamut from none to “coo coo for Cocoa Puffs” – can completely derail a KM initiative before it’s even begun. Diligence must be tempered with appropriateness.

Clearly, my sage advice is needed on this subject.

Ultimately, the objective of a business case for KM is to provide organizational stakeholders with an awareness and understanding of knowledge management that will set the stage for a deeper exploration of how it can be approached strategically. First, build (and sell) the case for KM; Second, secure enough buy-in to undertake a proper knowledge audit; and, Third, develop (and pitch) a strategic solution.

Elements of a Business Case for KM

General and organization-specific definitions of knowledge management
Awareness of the role that KM plays in the organization
Awareness of how KM impacts an organization
Cost and benefit(s) of a strategic approach to KM

General and organization-specific definitions of knowledge management
I’m fond of defining KM as the set of strategies that improve how information is shared and leveraged in an organization, but if that doesn’t work for you, then look no further than the Wikipedia entry for knowledge management for something more comprehensive. Just remember to observe the wisdom of the KISS principle and keep it simple, stupid! Avoid tossing around know-it-all terms like tacit and explicit knowledge and generic statistics about employee retention, knowledge half-life and even competitors KM behaviors. You don’t create a connection by talking over the heads of your audience. You have to speak in their language about their organization. Will some respond to and even demand this type of information? Sure, but your task is to keep them focused on their organization. What works next door and across the street isn’t, necessarily, applicable at home and even if it might be, benchmarking the best practices of others is highly premature for organizations still defining their need for and approach to KM.

And you should say so.

Awareness of how KM impacts an organization
Fundamental KM belief #1: There is no such thing as an organization that does not practice KM, whether or not it's been formally documented or recognized as such. When an organization says it "wants” KM what it's really saying is that whatever it's currently doing isn't working (for whatever reason and to whatever degree).

If you need to, take a minute and let that marinate.

This is the reason I espouse explaining versus justifying KM. KM is not some external activity that an organization can opt-in or out of at their leisure, it is a reality of doing business that it is embodied in all of the processes and activities that inform and influence how human and technology resources are utilized, developed, and leveraged across the organization.

Awareness of the role that KM plays in the organization
Fundamental KM belief #2: Good KM professionals should, ideally, be working themselves out of a job. While there may be an on-going need for someone to manage KM systems and routine activities (knowledge audits, data analysis and reporting, etc.) at some point, once the task of facilitating the cultural adoption of KM is complete, these activities should be able to be absorbed by other functional areas (preferably, at the executive level).

Of course, for most organizations, I don’t see this happening any time soon. Why? Because KM confuses the heck out of people!
With all of the different activities that support and enable KM – many of which are valid disciplines in their own right – it’s easy to see why. So, when making the case for KM, it’s necessary to focus on the added value that KM as a whole (not just its various enablers and activities) brings to the organization.

As a field, knowledge management is rooted in the following core values:

KM is strategic (mission and goals-oriented, tactical, agile)
KM is about sharing (collaboration, partnership, active participation)
KM is about community (mutuality, trust, respect)
KM is about innovation (growth, adaptation, change)

And, in addition to being warm and fuzzy, KM also provides a holistic lens through which policies, practices, and strategic goals and objectives are analyzed to determine how fully people, process, and technology are being engaged. This is a critical aspect of KM that is often ignored. Typically the KM function is engaged to assist in determining how KM systems might be used to facilitate a particular goal or objective, but rarely is KM engaged to evaluate the actual goals and objectives. “How can KM support this initiative?” should give way to “How feasible is this initiative from a KM perspective?”

Cost and benefit(s) of a strategic approach to KM
Fundamental KM belief #3: KM is taking place – like it or not – and if you're not addressing it directly then you're missing out on a golden opportunity to shape and direct how it takes place and benefits the organization’s bottom-line.

Regardless of how you choose to make a case for KM you’re going to be asked to justify (there’s that word) its cost and demonstrate its benefit(s). If you’ve successfully established KM as an existing and on-going organizational practice then consider yourself halfway home, if not, you’ve got an uphill battle ahead of you. But, a smidgen of wisdom, a pinch of logic, and a dash of courage might be enough to pull you through.

The actual cost of KM
The cost of doing nothing
Satisfaction with/usage of enterprise systems
Rate of failure of new initiatives
Rate of new hire acclimation
Resource/succession planning policies
Quantity and quality of documented best practices

In his 2005 Projectified blog post, “KM and PM: The Redheaded Step Children of all Organizations?,” Brian Kennemer insightfully writes, “PM [project management] and KM ‘systems’ are about people being comfortable with changing the way they do things.” The best approach to making a case for KM lies in making people aware of and comfortable with KM; helping them to understand the way(s) in which they are currently engaging in KM activity and illustrating the types of adjustments that can be made to shape their behaviors for a targeted result.

Sound like a tall order? In my experience, not so much.

Quick & Dirty: Can KM Save The US Postal Service?

2010-03-04T11:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I finally decided to ditch Internet Explorer. I don't know why IE8 was so friggin' buggy but after months of having it crash on me for any reason (it didn't like the site I was on...it was Monday...I used gel instead of conditioner to style my hair that day...whatever) I finally decided enough was enough. The worst part of using buggy IE8: I couldn't do my taxes. At least, I couldn't download the tax forms from IRS.com because, every time I tried, the system went down on me...and not in a good way. After reviewing my options I decided to go with Google Chrome (even though you have to modify it so that those pesky new tabs don't put all of your business out in the street with random folks sitting down to use your system).

Anywho, I've got to run out and find some wooden racquets to spray paint gold as prizes for my Golden Racquet tournament on Saturday. They were cute the first year I held this tournament, but last time I found these awesome racquet-shaped paper weights that, unfortunately, have been out of stock with vendors for the past 6 months. So, like a good strategist, I adjust my game plan.

But, before I hit the door, I was watching a news report on Tuesday about the trials and tribulations of the US Postal Service in the digital age and - after I stopped being pissy about USPS officials blaming Americans for using email more often, as opposed to paying to send a letter that may take days to arrive, if it arrives at all - it seemed like a great KM opportunity.

The Sitch: In a nutshell, folks just aren't mailing enough letters to keep the Postal Service in the black. (Which is funny 'cause I still get plenty of junk mail.) The USPS has tried raising rates and is now exploring reducing services by eliminating Saturday delivery.

The Opportunity: Come up with creative ways to help the USPS leverage its capabilities to either re-purpose itself or expand its offerings.

Perhaps the greatest advantage that the USPS has is that (and I'm simplifying the hell out of this) the Constitution pretty much grants the USPS a Congressional monopoly over mail delivery. Furthermore, according to Wikipedia, "Congress has delegated to the Postal Service the power to decide whether others may compete with it, and the Postal Service has carved out an exception to its monopoly for extremely urgent letters." (i.e., FedEx, Big Brown, DHL)

Has the time com for the USPS to get constitutionally-janky and decide it doesn't need the competition?

Quizás, quizás, quizás.

Pero, without getting too deep into this challenge (still gotta hunt down those racquets), I think that it's time the Postal Service looked into how it can expand or overhaul its service offerings. The fact is that we do live in a digital age and the way people communicate with one another has changed on an evolutionary scale (think "dinosaurs go bye-bye", "cavemen-stand-up-straight"). The major problem for the USPS is that they didn't go a very good job of staying up-to-date on how changing technologies would affect their core business. And blaming consumers for mailing fewer letters is a pretty lame excuse for not revamping and revising their primary service offering.

That said, I think they should look to their competitors (in the urgent mail biz) for some ideas. Has the Inspector General for the Postal Service done any evaluative comparisons of its service offerings to its commercial competitors? How frequently? And, what, if any were the lessons learned? Most importantly, assuming some type of competitive evaluation has taken place, how was learned knowledge applied? Surely these activities fall within the purview of the USPS' Office of the Inspector General.

One great starting place is the absorption of Kinko's by FedEx. Not that the USPS needs to copycat this approach, but I'm sure there are plenty of State and Federal paperwork/document processes that still require person-to-person contact that could be absorbed by the Postal Service. This wouldn't, necessarily, extend to all types of government paperwork but, just like USPS' Passport services, imagine being able to go to a place that provides access to and services around getting information and assistance with completing and submitting official documents and records.

What about expanding same-day delivery (courier) services? Or, competing for corporate contracts to provide urgent mail delivery services?

Whatever happened to resolution H.R. 3167, a bill that would have required the 2010 US Census to be conducted in partnership with the USPS (whose carriers are more familiar with cities across this country than some random hourly temp workers)? Seems to me like a great way to utilize the USPS, give the Postal Service a much needed infusion of cash, and conduct an important National study. Who the hell kept this bill tabled and why?

How about re-establishing a USPS savings systems? Especially now when so many folks (rightly, IMO) distrust commercial banking institutions and their practices.

What about a merger between Amtrak and the USPS? Since undergrad, it's been a dream of mine to be a part of re-organizing Amtrak and re-establishing the American rail service. Again, without getting too deep into this idea (that's definitely another blog post), a merger (for the USPS at least) could help to reduce a portion (if not all) of what the agency expends on contracting air and rail services.

Other quick suggestions include expanding the role of the USP Inspection Service and revisiting the decision to cancel sea mail (the service could be contracted solely to other Federal agencies, like the military).

To be fair, I think the Postal Service has done a great job of operating efficiently (which is a helluva lot more than you can say for a lot of government agencies and too many corporations), the introduction of e-postage is one example. And, if it was just a matter of time before this institution needed to shut its doors then this would be a completely different blog post, but despite changing technological trends, our Nation still has a pressing need for this service - the service just needs a makeover.

I think we've got a KM-911 here y'all.

The Dog of War: Reflections on the Journey of a Future Knowledge Manager

2010-02-28T12:43:00.000-08:00

I've been mad, crazy busy wrapping up the last few details of the Winter Mixed ALTA season (let's just say we'll remember the fun more than the losses), gearing up for the Spring Men's ALTA season (testosterone city, here I come) and prepping for the Golden Racquet Tournament (there can be only one...wining team, that is).

I thought I'd find some time to finish up my KM3.0 post (finally) but no such luck. Plus, I'm sure it didn't help that I went out to support my little brother's metal band, Machina Caelestis at their first show. As I tweeted all night, the space (Legends on Ralph David Abernathy) was amazing (I'm sure I'll rent it out for a future party) and the other bands had moments of goodness. I just wish my brother's band didn't get ripped off by the promoter, but these are the things you learn when you're barely out of high school trying to get your start in the music industry and I'll see to it that he does...learn from the experience.

Anywho, I was digging through my box of old school papers looking for an article on the Breakpoint model of change as part of some KM ROI research I'm doing when I came across one of the two "Reflections of a Future Knowledge Manager" critical reflections I wrote in grad school that inspired me to start this blog. As luck would have it, the folder with school papers is one of two that didn't synch up from my old harddrive so I'm busy trying to find a trained professional who can extract my cherished courework. In the meantime, I went ahead and re-typed it (which gave me a good excuse to clean up my horrible grammar...how did I get into grad school?).

Reading it again, after all these years, made me smile. I think the green is evident, but so is the passion.

I wonder, if I knew that I could be a millionaire by having a baby by 'fitty' would I have stayed on this path? Mmmmh, yeah. Having a rapper's kid has got to be a pain, just ask Kelis.
knocking around this stupid drive to get it to spin

Out of The Box - Week Ending 02/19

2010-02-22T01:39:00.000-08:00

I've been enjoying a "Lifetime" kinda Sunday which, usually, involves laying in bed, watching whichever string of Valerie Bertinelli, Tori Spelling, or ex-Charlie's Angel made-for-TV movies are on and eating whatever leftovers can be nuked during commercials (at which time you're also making quick runs to go potty). But, today I was a little more mobile, taking advantage of great weather to enjoy a variety of recent cinematic pleasures from Leap Year (whose only redeeming qualities are my current female silver screen crush, Amy Adams, and its Irish setting) to Chris Rock's psuedo-mentary, Good Hair, which tried to be both informative and funny and totally missed the boat on both counts.

Anywho, after an amazing meal of rack of lamb and a side of Olympics (thanks Em!) and a quick nap on Em's Lifetime-Sunday-facilitatin' couch (it's that cozy...and, totally TMI, but if you lay just right it'll even cradle your bladder so you can go for hours without having to get up to pee), I started combing through last weeks latest and greatest blog posts and articles.

Wirearchist (or is it wirearchitect?), Jon Husband, re-presents his amazing insights into Today's Interconnected Environment and reinforces my vision of the future of KM as a field that creates meaning out of available information and knowledge and feeds it back back to its end-users.
I'm on the verge of making Nancy White my first KM crush of 2010. Like Nancy, I love things you can touch and play with during collaborative strategy sessions (get your mind out of the gutter) and I totally appreciate this post on card decks used in facilitations.
I'm not known for putting my faith in B-School programs to improve the world of business, but this Knowledge@Wharton article emphasizing the role of collaborating "across the aisle" as an aid in the cycle of innovation doesn't completely suck, lol.
A great article supporting personalized strategies (as needed) over (hard-core) formalized strategies. ('Cause, you know, it's all about balance, bay-bay.) In the end it all comes down to "insight, accountability, and culture"...who knew?!?!
KM Opportunity: Don't just nix the sucky ideas floating around your organization...percolate 'em! Or, rather, incubate 'em; maybe tossing them around a bit will make them less sucky and more brilliant.
Question of the Week: Is your organization spending tons of money on contractors and outsourcing? Two BusinessWeek articles (here and here) on 'buying local' suggest an interesting approach for KM (most likely in conjunction with HR) to influence development of internal resources.
Google's interest in buying and selling energy represents yet another interesting development from Google Labs. See what happens when you start leveraging the power of knowledge and information? See?!?!

Lil Jackie’s Elements of a KM Service Portfolio

2010-02-20T15:03:00.000-08:00

Well, I was going to start off whining about how tired I was following my mad crazy Valentine's Day weekend, but after a 60 second re-introduction to Shear Genius' beautiful but vacuous hostess, Camila Alves, I am reminded of what tired looks like. (Heidi Klum she ain't! Whoever made the decision to let Jaclyn Smith go should be fired.)

Plus, I just spent an hour researching dim sum recipes (which makes me wish Canton House still stayed open 'til 2am) and 45 minutes rummaging through a box of old school papers (which affirmed for me how great it is to be doing exactly what I'd hoped to be doing when I was in college). So, I'm actually 5x5 right now.

'Aboot' two years ago (sorry, I've been watching the Winter Olympics), I read this strategy+business 'Launch and Learn' article on the integration of innovation portfolios as a means of consistently turning out profitable new offerings. I am forever looking for new ways to enhance the awareness of KM and demonstrate its value and this article had me considering the role KM could play in developing strategic solutions that focused on integrating the various corporate activities to which it refers. And, not just those related to product creation (although, clearly, activities that impact cost savings and revenue generation provide KM with the best visibility, recognition and subsequent latitude to explore more people-centric activities).

It also had me thinking ‘aboot’ (still funny) the value in developing KM portfolios.

Among my (many) peeves are organizations that have a titled KM function (meaning, someone is walking around with the title of Knowledge Manager) and yet few, if any, within that organization have a clue 'aboot' what KM is or what the KM function (and the Knowledge Manager) actually does. Even worse is when folks working in KM (titled or not) are incapable of providing user-friendly, on-the-spot explanations of what KM is and examples of how it benefits their specific organizations. (Just like an aspiring singer, you never know who you're going to meet and when and you should always be ready to demo exactly what makes you a star.) I get that some job titles (and their respective responsibilities) are more familiar than others, but if you can’t succinctly sum up what you do and be prepared to shine on a dime, then you’re a moron. Really.

Last year, I began the process of fleshing out a list of KM service offerings and a few months later I was in a meeting where one of my process-oriented KM colleagues suggested the development of a KM Service Catalog to organize and promote current and future offerings (shout out to Roger!).

You can check out the wiki page for the full deets, but the quick and dirty on service catalogs is that they provide a listing of services offered by a particular program, department, function, etc. While the primary value is self-evident (or should be), service catalogs also support the development of an overall value proposition for KM. And, if you don't have one, 2010 should be all 'aboot' building your KM value proposition.

Anywho, as is clearly my burden in life, after my colleague suggested the idea, I set out to research how one actually creates a service catalog. It took a few months (what with all of my other duties) and despite the more "academic" literature giving the illusion that the process is a complicated pain in the ass, it turned out to be a lot less confusing to just see what other folks out there are doing and employ a little "reverse engineering".

As you'll see (by clicking on the following link) I was particularly fond of the online service catalogue created and maintained by Australia's Griffith University. (And a quick nod to Dublin City University's less pretty, though equally effective offering.

A few points to consider:

It's important to note that each service offering should provide only summative information and avoid lots of heavy, process-oriented detail. Depending on the offering, you might want to have those processes detailed somewhere (so as to be able to provide that information when enquiries are made) but for your portfolio (or catalog), a concise, informative description is sufficient.
Keep information current! The cool thing 'aboot' a service portfolio is that you can add or remove offerings depending upon the availability of resources (human, financial, or technological). You can also modify the terms of offerings as necessary, for example, passing off the cost of a service offering to the requestor when budge restrictions arise. Just be sure that if an offering is included in your portfolio that you honor the terms as described, otherwise you risk damaging your respect and credibility
Enquiries and requests into service offerings are a great metric to capture. They also provide insight into areas of opportunity for KM.
It's not enough just to have a portfolio, you need to be proactive about promoting it! Support the awareness of service offerings with plenty of marketing and education on what each offers and involves. Don't assume that just because you whip up a portfolio and slap it online that your audience will hunt you down, you still need to seek them out, but now you'll be ready to meet them.

As usual, Lil Jackie and I are open to praise, criticisms and feedback on how these elements can be improved.

Out of The Box - Week Ending 02/05

2010-02-06T15:20:00.000-08:00

See, this is what happens when tennis is your religion...you neglect your blog, the maintenance of your hair, the search for an inexpensive body butter to replace the exceptional one you used to get for a buck at the Dollar Tree (I have eczema and, yes, it was exceptional)...all so you can stay up day and night to watch the Australian Open. Thankfully, Serena and Fed didn't disappoint in their respective Singles Finals and the Williams sisters had some amazing points in their doubles match againt the frighteningly phenomenal Cara Black and Liezel Huber.

The downside this past week was the announcement of Ugly Betty's impending cancellation (though I've been too busy sucking at Mario Kart and getting hooked on Caprica to do more than worry about where I'll get my weekly dose of Vanessa Williams), but the upside has been an interesting and entertaining mix of articles that have generated some great ideas on KM...well, for me at least, that's why this stuff is out of the box.

In a nod to avoiding the obvious pathways of strategy success, Pepsi eschews multimillion dollar Super Bowl ads in favor of "two-way dialogue" with customers in order to make brand a movement.
Davos seemed like the place to be for Knowledge Managers this week, curious to know how many KM professionals were in attendance at the annual World Economic Forum (WEF). Can we get this kind of conversation going at future KM conferences?
Having been roundly chastized for working like a dog to keep the momentum going on KM efforts (which, as it turns out was was more of a political maneuver to "keep-me-in-my-place"), I can totally appreciate Erica Olsen's tips on maintaining the momentum of strategic planning
Epiphany of the Week: Forget Goldman Sachs janky bonus practices, after reading about how JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO, Jamie Dimon, scored a $16M bonus, I finally understand all of these sketchy fees Chase has been hitting me with over the last month. Remember the days when banks charged fees as a penalty and not a dubious revenue generating practice? I do. Here's wishing you lots of karma Jamie!

Simple, but great advice (the best usually is) on winning new business (or support) whether you're an independent KM consultant or operating an internal KM function.
How To of the Week: Some timely advice on managing anxiety in the workplace.
Fantabulous response to a WSJ article on the loss of favor of strategic plans. This is always a point I try to underscore in my KM engagements.
Question of the Week: Is "heritage" just a fashion trend or something your KM branding efforts can benefit from?
KM Opportunity: The problem is not digitizing electronic health records, it's improving the accessbility and functionality of these systems (making them user friendly) and getting healthcare professionals up to speed on how to use them without interfering with their ability to do their primary work of saving lives. Anyone know of a group of professionals equipped to make this happen? Ooh, ooh, I do, I do.

Quick & Dirty: Is 2010 The Year KM Grows Up?

2010-01-26T02:56:00.000-08:00

You know, the joy of these 'Quick & Dirty' posts is supposed to be the speed with which I can drop some knowledge and get back to other things, but on days like this...grrrrr!

(Re-filling my sweet iced tea...aaaahhhh, all better now.)

It is truly amazing to me how the most unexpected situations can teach us so much about who we are and what we're capable of. I've been navigating the murky waters of family (melo)drama lately (in my capacity as middle child and official "damn-giver...er" and something I said today resonated with recent thoughts I've been journaling regarding the State of KM in 2010 and my own personal goals for the year as a practitioner.

First, lemme just say that you know you're a tennis fan when you stay up all night (and I mean ALL night...in the middle of the week) to watch the Australian Open. Damn that Roddick for costing me $5! Just when I thought he'd changed his losing ways...!

Anyway, I'd been working on catching up on my blog-reading and getting a feel for the current state of KM with my regular review of newly posted KM jobs (and, btw, there are some interesting opportunities for those of you in the market; clearly a sign that there's continuous recognition of the need for KM. It's also pretty cool to see the number of references for KM skills in non-KM titled jobs, particularly in project management roles) when I came across this position description that I'd like to acquire (well, most of it, at least) by the end of 2010 to give me my dream resume.

Thinking about the ways in which I hope to grow had me thinking about the ways in which I've already grown (that's what resonated). And, in typical Christian-fashion, this had me thinking about The Pussycat Dolls.

Yes, my brain actually works like this; it's a thin line between brilliant and crazy...a thin, scary line.

I've been re-building my music library following The Great HD Crash of '09 (which followed the '08 Crash much too quickly; and it didn't help that I responded to the first one like FEMA during Katrina). Heart failure and a hard-drive crash in the same year?!?! I am such a survior. I deserve a Symphony candy bar (the one with the toffee, mmmmh).

I was bananas for PCDs "When I Grow Up" when it blew up the charts in '08 and while re-stocking my media library, I came across a sick Lil Wayne/P Diddy remix that I just canNOT stop listening to! (Sorry, scrambling back across the line). Anywho, all of this talking and singing about growth and growing up had me thinking about the need for knowledge management and Knowledge Managers to experience some of their own in 2010 (growth, that is...maybe a little singing too).

For KM (the people) that can mean either growin' a pair (and droppin' 'em) or simply empowering yourself to be the expert you know you are (or would like to be; I get that, depending upon your situation and organization, it ain't always simple...just work with me). Now, I'm not calling anyone spineless or pushing an aggressive, bad-ass, Sam-Jackson-in-Pulp-Fiction approach to KM, I'm just saying that in championing KM and generating ongoing support it's important to know when to be assertive and aggressive versus collaborative and accomodating. (Even though a Knowledge Manager should embody all of these qualities.) Like the song says, "know when to hold 'em/know when to fold 'em/know when to walk away/know when to run".

I also recognize that some organizations staff their KM roles with the intention of creating change in accordance with the perception(s) of whomever pitched the idea of KM in the first place (and to whom you probably report) but, to be an effective Knowledge Manager, you be must capable of evaluating the organization yourself and creating awareness of the true State of KM (versus the often blurred, less than objective renderings of others) and re-set expectations accordingly. Your success, in this regard, will speak highly of your abilities as an educator and communicator (and, if you're serious about your career in KM, it gives you an idea of how much the organizational climate will support or hinder your growth and development). Again, I know your yoke ain't easy and your burthen ain't light, but being good at what you do means constantly pushing yourself to be better.

For KM (the field) growing up means being relevant and providing a solid value proposition. Gone are the days of the wordy-but-empty KM sales pitch where KM is a "critical necessity" whose ethereal, far-reaching benefits are many, yet hard to quantify. The flavor's in the fat, but the meat is what we eat. Over the years, I've observed a lot of folks who cling to fast and loose definitions of KM that, essentially, leave the concept open to much interpretation (and bastardization). While this might appease theorists with a penchant for defying labels, it makes our field look flakey and disorganized. From my perspective, if everything is KM, then what's the point of KM?

At close to 4am, it's waaaay to early for me to try and explain what (I think) KM is and isn't (especially in a Quick & Dirty post) beyond my usual description, but if I were to say a few words on the subject (as if a blogger is looking to keep their thoughts to themselves) to those folks who are either exploring what KM can do for their organization or went about executing a KM strategy without seeking expert counsel, I might say that you don't need a KM strategy to:

Build a website or a database - hire a techie;
Re-organize your filing system - get an intern;
Get your employees to document their work-related activities and/or critical reflections - put it in their MBOs and tie it to their bonuses; or even,
To get your employees sharing information with one another - an open-bar Happy Hour with chicken wings gets the job done juuuust fine.

Ultimately, the bottom-line goal of a KM strategy is to help organizations improve their market share and profitability. This is accomplished by getting at and coming up with ways to leverage critical knowledge. If, as a consquence of this activity, you happen to make some people happy by improving some processes and general working conditions...fuckin' 'A' fantastic! However, know that all of the tactics undertaken to identify, organize, and share knowledge and information are purely meant to support the bottom-line goal...if yours isn't, welllll, I'm not sayin' it's right and I'm not sayin' it's wrong, I'm just sayin' you might wanna look into that.

While everyone else is prepping for the end of the world in 2 years (and who can blame them in this economy?), KM (both the field and the people) is in a position to experience some exceptional growth. Here's to seeing what the coming year brings...and to scrounging up 500 pennies - just 'cause I lost my bet doesn't mean I have to be cool about it.

The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House

2010-01-18T00:16:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is MLK Day and to celebrate, I'll be attending the 2010 Atlanta Bayard Rustin-Audre Lorde Breakfast which was founded in 2002 "to provide attendees the opportunity to connect before participating in the Martin Luther King Jr. March, educate communities about the contributions of Bayard Rustin, Audre Lorde and other activists; and enhance mutual support and continued learning among people engaged in social change efforts."

I was introduced to the musings and poetry of Audre Lorde in a Women's Studies course I took as an undergrad and I can truly say, without the least bit of melodrama or pretense, that her work changed my life. In particular, this piece, "The Master's Tools..."

During the class discussion of her writing I was thrilled that my classmates either had no opinion or were uninterested in sharing one, because I could spend all day talking about what I'd read the night before(and I pretty much did).

As a Knowledge Manager, I draw a lot of inspiration from the most unlikely sources and "The Master's Tools..." is one that I reference religiously and will continue to cite and share with people over the entirety of my career. The way in which it challenges me to think outside of the box in search of new, better, and more inclusive approaches to organizational change has been...well it's been a gift, really.

On this day, when we recognize the contributions of a man who was, quite literally, a Change Master, and as people all over the world continue to seek inspiration to overcome so many different hurdles and oppressive conditions, I thought it would be cool to post this piece in its entirety. Perhaps it will inspire you to "be the change you wish to see" in your organization, your community, your country, and our world.

The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House

By Audre Lorde (1934-1992)

“It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.”

This essay is from Sister Outsider, The Crossing Press Feminist Series (1984)

"I agreed to take part in a New York University Institute for the Humanities conference a year ago, with the understanding that I would be commenting upon papers dealing with the role of difference within the lives of American women: difference of race, sexuality, class, and age. The absence of these considerations weakens any feminist discussion of the personal and the political.

It is a particular academic arrogance to assume any discussion of feminist theory without examining our many differences, and without a significant input from poor women, Black and Third World women, and lesbians. And yet, I stand here as a Black lesbian feminist, having been invited to comment within the only panel at this conference where the input of Black feminists and lesbians is represented. What this says about the vision of this conference is sad, in a country where racism, sexism, and homophobia are inseparable. To read this program is to assume that lesbian and Black women have nothing to say about existentialism, the erotic, women's culture and silence, developing feminist theory, or heterosexuality and power. And what does it mean in personal and political terms when even the two Black women who did present here were literally found at the last hour? What does it mean when the tools of a racist patriarchy are used to examine the fruits of that same patriarchy? It means that only the most narrow perimeters of change are possible and allowable.

The absence of any consideration of lesbian consciousness or the consciousness of Third World women leaves a serious gap within this conference and within the papers presented here. For example, in a paper on material relationships between women, I was conscious of an either/or model of nurturing which totally dismissed my knowledge as a Black lesbian. In this paper there was no examination of mutuality between women, no systems of shared support, no interdependence as exists between lesbians and women-identified women. Yet it is only in the patriarchal model of nurturance that women "who attempt to emancipate themselves pay perhaps too high a price for the results," as this paper states. For women, the need and desire to nurture each other is not pathological but redemptive, and it is within that knowledge that our real power is rediscovered. It is this real connection which is so feared by a patriarchal world. Only within a patriarchal stucture is maternity the only social power open to women.

Interdependency between women is the way to a freedom which allows the I to be, not in order to be used, but in order to be creative. This is a difference between the passive be and the active being.

Advocating the mere tolerance of difference between women is the grossest reformism. It is a total denial of the creative function of difference in our lives. Difference must be not merely tolerated, but seen as a fund of necessary polarities between which our creativity can spark like a dialectic. Only then does the necessity for interdependency become unthreatening. Only within that interdependency of different strengths, acknowledged and equal, can the power to seek new ways of being in the world generate, as well as the courage and sustenance to act where there are no charters.

Within the interdependence of mutual (non-dominant) differences lies that security which enables us to descend into the chaos of knowledge and return with true visions of our future, along with the concomitant power to effect those changes which can bring that future into being. Difference is that raw and powerful connection from which our personal power is forged.

As women, we have been taught either to ignore our differences, or to view them as causes for separation and suspicion rather than as forces for change. Without community there is no liberation, only the most vulnerable and temporary armistice between an individual and her oppression. But community must not mean a shedding of our differences, nor the pathetic pretense that these differences do not exist.

Those of us who stand outside the circle of this society's definition of acceptable women; those of us who have been forged in the crucibles of difference - those of us who are poor, who are lesbians, who are Black, who are older- know that survival is not an academic skill. It is learning how to stand alone, unpopular and sometimes reviled, and how to make common cause with those others identified as outside the structures in order to define and seek a world in which we can all flourish. It is learning how to take our differences and make them strengths. For the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house. They may allow us temporarily to beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change. And this fact is only threatening to those women who still define the master's house as their only source of support.

Poor women and women of Color know there is a difference between the daily manifestations of marital slavery and prostitution because it is our daughters who line 42nd Street. If white American feminist theory need not deal with the differences between us, and the resulting difference in our oppressions, then how do you deal with the fact that the women who clean your houses and tend your children while you attend conferences on feminist theory are, for the most part, poor women and women of Color? What is the theory behind racist feminism?

In a world of possibility for us all, our personal visions help lay the groundwork for political action. The failure of academic feminists to recognize difference as a crucial strength is a failure to reach beyond the
first patriarchal lesson. In our world, divide and conquer must become define and empower.

Why weren't other women of Color found to participate in this conference? Why were two phone calls to me considered a consultation? Am I the only possible source of names of Black feminists? And although the Black panelist's paper ends on an important and powerful connection of love between women, what about interracial cooperation between feminists who don't love each other?

In academic feminist circles, the answer to these questions is often, "We did not know who to ask." But that is the same evasion of responsibility, the same cop-out, that keeps Black women's art out of women's exhibitions, Black women's work out of most feminist publications except for the occasional "Special Third World Women's Issue," and Black women's texts off your reading lists. But as Adrienne Rich pointed out in a recent talk, white feminists have educated themselves about such an enormous amount over the past ten years, how come you haven't also educated yourselves about Black women and the differences between us - white and Black - when it is key to our survival as a movement?

Women of today are still being called upon to stretch across the gap of male ignorance and to educate men as to our existence and our needs. This is an old and primary tool of all oppressors to keep the oppressed occupied with the master's concerns. Now we hear that it is the task of women of Color to educate white women - in the face of tremendous resistance - as to our existence, our differences, our relative roles in our joint survival. This is a diversion of energies and a tragic repetition of racist patriarchal thought.

Simone de Beauvoir once said:

"It is in the knowledge of the genuine conditions of our lives that we must draw our strength to live and our reasons for acting."

Racism and homophobia are real conditions of all our lives in this place and time. I urge each one of us here to reach down into that deep place of knowledge inside herself and touch that terror and loathing of any difference that lives there. See whose face it wears. Then the personal as the political can begin to illuminate all our choices."