Far Wise in Knowledge Management

Lost in knowledge translation

One of the tasks of the new team in which I'm now involved in my new job, is to accelerate knowledge from research into use. The terms they use for this is knowledge translation and transfer. In good tradition of government where there is an acronym for everything, it is called KTT. Knowledge transfer is a concept I'm familiar with, knowledge translation is something I have a vague perception of what it means, but not more than that. To better understand the topic, I looked in some sources.

Patenting ideas versus putting ideas into use

I read a few pages of the book “Animals make us human” (you can tell I’m now working in an agricultural environment). In a section on Technology Transfer there was a nice example of to prevent big companies from buying simple ideas, in order to patent them and to sell the products expensive so that small companies (farmers) cannot afford to buy and use them:

“After I finished my designs I purposely killed all the patent rights by publishing my drawings in a meat magazine. That put the designs in the public domain. No company anywhere in the world could patent any part of the design. I wanted to make sure it got used. After I published my drawings I went to a big trade show for the American Meat Institute at McCormick Place in Chicago. The sales rep from the big equipment company was there, and he was so mad he wouldn’t talk to me” (p. 204).

The system the person talks about is now used in many plants in several countries.

Everybody loves my plant

This is an agricultural environment, but not crowded with the gadget-lovers as I used to have as colleagues. So I can "score" with this nice solar-powered Flip Flap plant from 2005.

Storytelling in a job interview

I'm writing things in a unlogical order, going back and forward in time. So, I should have mentioned that I found a job (hurray, even though it's only for 6 months) in the Innovation and Knowledge Management Unit of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). Later, when I have a better impression myself, I'll tell what my work involves. First, I want to share how I got here and how storytelling helped me.

Crash course on brainstorming

Some time ago I gave a short course on brainstorming at my boyfriend's company. Most people there (engineers, software developers) are not used to brainstorming and my boyfriend had some  experiences that lead to nothing, only frustration. So when the project manager announced she  wanted to organize a brainstorming session, he made a sceptical remark and he suggested that she talks with me about brainstorming. We agreed that I would give a, as she called it, "crash course" on brainstorming for a small group of interested people in the company.

First week in a new job

Monday: where is the coffee machine and where is the bathroom?

Tuesday: where again is my cubicle?

Wednesday: the pile of interesting-to-read papers on my desk is growing.

Thursday: a meeting? Oh, I'm not yet on the list.

Friday: all those abbreviations, pfff, how will I ever remember them?

Global skills

Wednesday I visited the Global Skills Conference, organized by the local Multicultural Centre. Not knowing what to expect, I was surprised to see over 100 participants. People from all over the world who have come to live in Canada and this region and who are looking for work (and more  than a 'survival job'). Most of them have had a high level of education in their home country, but as new immigrant nobody knows you (no network), nobody knows your university nor the company you worked at and without any Canadian work experience who will give you a chance and hire you? It's a Catch 22.  Think about that, what a waste of talent! But then it will be the same everywhere, not only in Canada, I'm sure about that. Are we really as 'global' as we think we are?

Milestone: 5 years blogging

February 2004, a couple of members of our research team decided to each start their own weblog. For some time, we heard enthusiast stories of Lilia, our blogging example. So, when we decided to study weblogs, Lilia was eager to help us to set up our own blogs, which most of us did.

After 5 years, I'm afraid that most members of that research team stopped blogging. Lilia, who made studying weblogs the topic of her PhD research, has almost finished writing her thesis and will hopefully be ready to defend it soon. Sometimes more dead than alive, my own blog still exists, but I have to admit that writing my weblog is not highest on the priority list. Over these 5 years, I've met some other bloggers, which is great. Plus, I've seen blogging has become cheaper, thanks to the low dollar.

I have stopped feeling guilty about the non-blogging periods. I know I can write about the books that I read, but I found it difficult to translate, since most books I review are written in Dutch. And though I read many interesting weblogs, I don't want to repeat what others write: "Look what an interesting piece this blogger wrote and I totally agree (or not)". Sometimes I do, but I guess it's not my style.  I merely see this blog as my personal professional 'diary', so looking back I can see what are topics that got my attention (and often still have my attention).  Because of our move to France and Canada, I see that my interest in different cultures has grown.

5 Years of blogging. It souds like a long time, but it went so quickly and a lot of things have happened. To the people (probably readers) that I met in these five years, I hope someday we'll see each other again!

Chicken & eggs and monkey behaviour in LinkedIn

When we lived in France, I noticed that none of the people I met was signed up in LinkedIn. I wondered why, since my impression of the French is that they are rather social. Is it because LinkedIn is an English (I mean the language) tool? Most people I met hardly speak English. If there were a French version, would they sign up? Or is it because they don't find the people they know to link to. Then it is more like a chicken-egg problem.

Another observation is that Dutch people have problems with recommendations in LinkedIn. We don't easily recommend someone for his or her work. And being recommended gives feelings of unease. I think it has to do with the 'moderate' culture: it is not widely accepted being special or  different. "Please, behave normal", is what children are being taught. Stick out your head and it will be chopped off. So, saying in public someone did a great job is difficult.  Slowly, however, you can  see in LinkedIn people (read: Dutch people) start recommending others. Still, you can feel the unease, because they recommend each other. Like: when I recommend you, you recommend me. Just like monkeys: scratching each other's back.

Traditions

Groundhog Wiarton Willie saw his shadow a few days ago. So, according the tradition, we'll have another 6 weeks of winter to go. What do you expect?, was the reaction of the meteorologist. This is Canada! He doesn't need a groundhog to predict more weeks of winter. Just common sense.