Far Wise in Knowledge Management

Staying motivated when there is no clear goal

Although the level of lockdown when the Corona pandemic started varied for different countries (and still varies), in most cases people stayed home as much as they could. In the Netherlands, we are still in lockdown: allowed to go out for a walk, bike ride, run, but not in groups, keeping 1.5 meters distance and staying at home after 9PM (when curfew starts). Staying healthy is important, and especially now most of us are working from home and sit for too many hours, so it is great we can go out and do something. No organized forms of sports are allowed though, so no races, no club training. Running is easy, I can do it from home and I can easily do it on my own.

However, I’m running much less than before and I hear the same from my training mates. Last year, I was training for a trail race in France in March and when that got canceled, I didn’t have a goal any longer. Plus nobody knew how long we would be in this lockdown. So at that time, it felt better to slow down, give the body rest and pick it up later when races are allowed again. That sounded reasonable, but I forgot about the mental part. My motivation to run dropped to a low point. Why would I go out anyway? My reason to go out seemed gone. I had nothing to work towards, as there were no races! It took a while to realize that I had to change my reason for running to a more internal reason: feeling good. I go out for a run because it feels good to move, it makes me happy and makes me feel fit. That’s reason in itself to go, which I had almost forgotten.

I started writing this posting during summer 2020, I think. Almost a year later, even though there seems light at the end of the tunnel, it’s still the same ‘stay at home as much as you can’ situation. I came across this article in the New York Times, titled “Why I stopped running during the pandemic (and how I started again)”, by Lindsay Crouse. She was running a lot when the orders to stay at home came. She stopped running at all, she just shut down and could only sit on her couch. It wasn’t rest, it didn’t make her feel better. Her question “What can we do to feel better in the midst of a crisis that seems like it won’t end?”, sounds familiar to me and probably to many others (runners or non-runners). She heard that when you’re in a rut, you need a nudge to take action. Waiting to feel better doesn’t work. The author found that for her to deal with the pandemic burnout isn’t going easy, it’s trying something hard.

What helped me is creating a new routine. Some of my running friends participate in online challenges. As we don’t know when everything is back to “normal” (whatever that looks like), we need to find different motivations and give ourselves a nudge (or just a kick in the but!, however hard it is to kick yourself). Go out, do something, don’t stay on that couch.

Note: the picture is me in my first 50 kilometer trail run, in 2019. I was super motivated for this run, to run long distances. It reminds me of a state of mind that I haven't had since (and I hope will be back soon)

Knowledge Management hard to sell?

Last week I met online with Aprill Allen. She’s a KCS practitioner and trainer as well, located in Australia. We met at the (virtual) Member Summit from the Consortium end of September (watch the recap) and Aprill invited me for a chat. Aprill has a fantastic website and blog, Knowledge Bird, and she’s very active in knowledge management communities and on Twitter. As for visibility and showing one’s expertise, I can learn a lot from her!

It was great to talk to Aprill, to hear how she discovered KCS (as this method is not well advertised, it’s always interesting to hear how sometimes coincidently people stumble upon it) and how, as independent contractor she tries to sell the training and workshops. Trying to sell the KCS training by announcing it (online or through a training institute) doesn’t give much results, as we also found out here. KCS is not well-known enough, like ITIL or PMP as (different) methods are. I found that when we talk to potential customers, they think KM is important, just not urgent (enough, for getting budget). Making a mess of your knowledge base probably doesn’t hurt enough and I think employees are smart enough to find workarounds to deal with lack of structure. We try to sell KM/KCS in combination with an ITSM platform, because then the organization is more willing to rethink their way of working, as they have to do with the new platform anyway. It’s helpful to know how other trainers, even on the other side of the world, approach the sale of knowledge management, or more specifically KCS. 

FOMO – With Books

Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) is often mentioned as a reason why people can’t put down their phones or check social media or news sources more often than they should. I don’t recognize this so much for news or social media, I find it easy to ignore or delete unread news items when the list gets too long. However, I do recognize it when it comes to books and the feeling that I want to read all the books that people talk about.

Although I read a lot, I always feel that there are so many interesting books that I haven’t read. I tend to make a list of the books that I want to read, but often I don’t read them because new, more interesting books have been published in the meantime! Or worse, I buy them and they just sit in my bookcase waiting to be read. Sometimes I feel that having them available in the bookcase, means the urge to read them has gone. And library books go first because there is an end to the loan period, which works as a deadline (I'm good with deadlines).

I saw this great YouTube video, which talks about many of the things I considered to read more or faster. Like speed reading. I read a lot but I’m not a particularly fast reader. I tried some of the techniques but find it hard to turn of the reading voice in my head (subvocalization, it’s called), which I know slows down pace a lot. Making time is a bit easier, as I don’t or hardly watch tv. The suggestion to use audio books is a good one, although it needs attention too, which doesn’t always make it an ideal combination with something else. I listened to audio books when I had to drive to work, but I knew I missed section when the traffic (usually quiet) demanded my attention. Besides, I remember more of the book's content when I read it.

The YouTube video shows some amazing bookstores. I know the one in Maastricht (Dominicanen), one of my favourite bookstores. I’ll check the one in Brussels (Cook and Book) if I get the chance, it looks so big (it’s actually 9 thematic stores). Although visiting bookstores make my FOMO worse and I usually walk out with books that I’ll add to the ‘to read’ pile! As the text in the YouTube video announcement “Bookstores have always driven me crazy. So much to read and so little time!”.

I am not going to solve my book FOMO just by reading as fast as I can. There are just too many books, in my bookcase, in the library and coming out all the time. I think I’ll have to be selective, just like I do with social media and news (subscribe to the ones that bring me something useful or the people I know and like) and ignore the rest. Otherwise, I’ll miss out on the best parts of reading: fun, relaxation and learning.

What are you working on? WOL

A virtual knowledge café that I attended recently, started with a presentation on Working Out Loud (WOL). It was not a new topic to me, I heard about it before at the Social Now Event in 2015. In the blogpost about that event, I only mention WOL as an interesting concept, probably with the idea to blog more later, which I apparently did and had forgotten about. So this presentation was a good reminder!

Now that most of us are working from home, WOL is a good way to inform your colleagues what you’re working on. Working Out Loud is what is says: tell what you’re going. Don’t show (only) the final product, but for example the research you are doing, the questions or doubts you have. It’s a way of sharing and an invitation to collaborate. When I know what you’re doing, I’m able to help you.

After the first presentation in 2015, I tried out WOL myself by updating my profile status on the intranet every day. I noticed people would read it by the reactions I sometimes got. The experiment wasn’t long enough to really benefit (as in, someone would give me something that I didn’t think of), but I was motivated to update my status because I knew it was read by a broader circle than my ‘usual coffee group’. That was a motivation in itself. After I left that company, I forgot about it. We now use Microsoft Teams, which also has a status update option. I never use it because we’re such a small team and start everyday with a quick online ‘stand up’ meeting. It’s something to keep in mind.

I’m probably not doing justice to this method, as there is much more to be found on the WOL-website and the book (which I haven't read). Developed by John Stepper, who implemented this method in many companies. On the website, you can find a 12-week ‘getting into it’. Here is another good source, by Stan Garfield, which is more a collection of pieces about Working Out Loud with many links.

Now is the time to share, collaborate, connect!

(Note: Wol means yarn in Dutch, which explains the picture. I also thought of WOL as a thread of communication)

9 Minutes

 Not so long ago I took a subscription to download and read e-books. After the first book that I finished I got some statistics. One of them shocked me: the average duration of a reading session for this book, was 9 minutes. So for only 9 minutes in a row on average I would read the book and then put it away and do something else. I know I switch a lot between books, as I always read several books at the same time. But 9 minutes…

I wondered how I used to do all the reading for my PhD thesis in the past. Every researcher does a thorough literature research and I was not different. I remembering sitting in my office at the university, reading all these articles (printed on paper, how bad) and drinking loads of tea. Once in a while I would get up, chat with my colleagues, go to the washrooms and read again. Why (and how?) was I able to do this at that time, to focus on reading, and why am I no longer able to do this now? Or am I romanticizing my picture of the past and was I as easily distracted as I am these days?

One big difference is that at that time (1993-1998), Internet wasn’t so ‘interesting’, full with information, news in so many shapes (like Twitter, blogs, Facebook, and so on). Plus I came from doing my Master’s, which also involved lots of reading and concentrating on pieces of text.

Distraction, (lack of) focus, task switching – these are recurring topics, for me but also in the many books and blogs that I read. The metric in the e-book was a good reminder for me to stop doing all these things that I know are very unproductive. I like the Pomodoro technique, because I think this came close to my way of working during my PhD time. Basically, using a pomodoro-shaped kitchen timer, you work/study/read for 25 minutes uninterrupted and then take a short break. After a few pomodoros you’ll take a longer break. It’s a simple method and it works well, as long as you turn off all distraction (which is a good idea in itself). This way I should be able to get a higher average for reading duration on my next book!

Consortium for Service Innovation Member Summit 2019

This is a post from last year that was waiting to get posted (oops). 

Beginning of April 2019, I attended the annual Member Summit from the Consortium for Service Innovation. It was the first time for me, although I had visited smaller European (team) meetings. The location for this event was Cape Neddick in Maine (US), another 'new' in the list for me. For me this Member Summit was especially exciting, as Greg Oxton (former Director of the Consortium) and I were going to present the Intelligent Swarming framework. Theme of this year's summit was "Big knowledge and digital transformation". There is a great recap on YouTube by the Consortium (note that Matt avoids pronouncing my last name, as did Greg at the Summit despite practicing many times). 

Ten weeks working from home!

Like almost everybody, I work from home since mid-March. I had done it before, when we moved abroad I could finish my projects working from home. At the end of the day I had to call someone, for some social interaction. Also, I remember how efficient it was, having less distraction or meetings that weren’t related to the projects.

So, in March, I didn’t need much to settle to a new rhythm. I do a project with a not very technology-oriented organization, so it was interesting to observe my colleagues learning to use Zoom and finding home-work balance (especially difficult for those with children). We agreed to “talk” every morning online and helped each other with the tools. I think we all learned new digital skills (myself included). Even the project wasn’t delayed as much as I feared. Most of my colleagues look very much forward to the day that we can get back to the office. I have mixed feelings. As much as I miss the chatting, coffee breaks and lunches with my colleagues, I don’t miss the commute to Amsterdam (one hour by train). It saves me a lot of time and I can sleep longer, which is an advantage as well.

I read a (Dutch) study that shows similar results. Many workers would prefer to keep on working from home because it saves them travel time (68%) and the flexibility in spending time (61%). People that want to go back to the office, say that they miss their colleagues (59%), they benefit from the change of environment (39%) and are more focused in the office (35%).

Managers probably had to go through a change as well, mainly in trust. Before, one of the main reasons for not allowing people to work from home, is that they didn’t trust work would get done. Now, there was no choice. And, surprise, work got done! In my project, we lost a week because we all had to get settled in our home office and then we continued our work. It’s just too bad we couldn't celebrate the finalization of the project. We celebrated it virtually, but it doesn’t feel the same. Some things are not the same on a distance!

Sharing knowledge of experts

Today I read an article from Dorothy Leonard with James Martin in HBR online, titled "How your organization's experts can share their knowledge". I like the work of Dorothy Leonard, loved her book "Deep smarts", so I started reading right away.

On a side note, I realize I haven't blogged for a long time, meaning I never finished the drafts that I started. It has been a crazy time, especially in summer when my boyfriend suddenly got very ill (bacterial eye infection that took his sight in one eye - he's feeling much better now though we still have to wait if his sight will return) at the same time as I was training for a 50 kilometer trail run, so finding time to run between hospital visits and later assisting in my boyfriend's medication. A deep and high (I finished the 50k) in a few months time took all my attention.

Anyway, back to the article on expert knowledge sharing. Leonard talked about the difficulty of knowledge sharing by experts before in her book "Deep smarts". In this paper she comes with a new term, a "knowledge cascade". It is "the diffusion of experts' "deep smarts" to and through multiple learners in a way that minimizes the burden on the experts". I like this concept, as experts are often asked to solve the difficult issues (that require their attention) and perhaps coach people and answer questions at the same time. Leonard and Martin describe four ways to create this knowledge cascade. They give an important role to the "nexpert", basically the person next in line to the expert, who is the first to learn from the expert. The four ways are: Pay it forward, Present a challenge, Set up a 'campfire' and Translate.

Pay it forward means that the nexpert directly teaches or mentors others from what they've learned from the expert. In the second, present a challenge, the nexpert creates a scenario or problem-set based on the expert's experience. This is a bit more difficult than the first to develop, but for the learner a better way to actively learn than just listening. I liked the idea of setting up a 'campfire'. This is a meeting of a mix of experts and novices in which the nexpert presents lessons, which are discussed and expanded, which generates new knowledge. The final way to cascade knowledge is translation. It means creating an artifact that captures the expert's knowledge so it can be passed down to others. Examples are guidelines, a checklist or a wiki. This sounds like "externalization" in the SECI model by Nonaka and Takeuchi (from tacit to explicit knowledge).

It's a short article, with four suggestions (there are probably more) to use the expert's knowledge and experience without putting all the burden on him/her. 

 

Still overloaded with information

Once in a while an article or research gets published about how people feel overloaded with information. Lately it was a Dutch study (article in Dutch) that got a lot of attention, while it actually told not much new. 28 % of employees felt overloaded with information in 2018, an increase of 3% compared to 2014. When we studied information overload (more than 10 years ago!), it was mainly email that caused the feeling - nowadays it's a combination of email, mobile phone and app messages. What made this study interesting is that the researchers dug a bit deeper than the usual "do you suffer from information overload" question. 60,000 Employees between 15 and 75 of age were questioned. The topic information overload was part of a bigger research question about working conditions in the Netherlands.

So from the study we learn that higher educated people suffer more than lower educated employees. There was no difference measured between men and women. Managers complain most about the number of information they get, people in the ICT-industry are the second in the list. For a large percentage of the people who suffer, it was reason to think about finding another job. The last finding indicates that it's a serious issue, but I wonder if it would really help to change jobs. Do people expect that there will be less information overload in another company? Managers will probably still get information from 'above' (their leaders) and from 'below' (the team members they manage).

Questions that come to my mind (I didn't read the details of the study): is it the quantity of information or the quality? Our own study indicated that especially the lack of quality was an issue (people were wondering why they got this message, what was expected from them and had to interpret the information to find out what was in it for them). Although nowadays I can imagine quantity of information has increased, so it will be a combination. Another question: is it a personal lack of skills, habits or it is a bigger, more generic issue? Has quality of information gone down (think fake news), which makes it harder to filter out what is useful (so then even good skills aren't sufficient). Maybe AI can help us in future to filter and select the information we need.

I'm afraid that information overload is an issue that will stay, for a long time at least. We can partly help ourselves by rigurously cutting off the flow (unsubscribe to channels, less apps, etcetera), ignore the feeling of missing out. Changing habits is incredibly hard, but it's a place to start where we are in control.

 

 

 

Intelligent Swarming Framework published

Something I worked on for the last few months, the framework for Intelligent Swarming, has been published by the Consortium for Service Innovation. Before you think I did this on my own, let me add that I was one of three authors. There were bits and pieces of information about Intelligent Swarming in slides, workshop notes, case descriptions present, but it was time to structure it and write it down. I was picking Greg Oxton's brain, who knows more about Intelligent Swarming than anyone else. He's called "Father of KCS", but I think it applies to IS as well. I'm glad the job is done and I'm proud of the result. I know it's a first version and I'm sure more versions and updates will follow as companies gain more experience with this way of working. As Greg put is: this framework is more a "what" and "why" for Intelligent Swarming than a "how", as the way IS is filled in depends so much on the company, like we did at Tricentis.

In short, when swarming in the service organization, we no longer use the tiered model of escalation, but a network of expertise. The model depends on collaboration to solve issues and the "intelligent" refers to getting the issue to the person who can best solve it and finding the right experts who can help. Collaboration means asking for help or offering help and we use technology to support this (think: how do people know you need help, how do you ask for help, how can others offer help?). The framework explains that this model is efficient, but not in all cases. Whether Intelligent Swarming is right for your organization depends, amongst other things, on the complexity of the issues that you're trying to solve.