Far Wise in Knowledge Management

Canada mountain view

Our last walk was in Banff, where we climbed the Sulpher Mountain trail. At the top (not of Sulpher Mountain, but a lower one next to it) there is a weather observatory and there you had a really nice view of the surroundings.

Weblog research

An interesting posting on Many-to-Many by Liz, who observes that (some) researchers talk about weblogs without exactly knowing what a weblog is. They miss nuances, because they only looked at weblogs and are no bloggers themselves.

My hope is that as more researchers and scholars become users of these tools, rather than observers of them, that the range and depth of the research in this space will increase—as will its value outside the walls of the academy.

Liz presents 5 suggestions or different approaches for research:
1. Descriptive approach or study of the form itself: we need to know what we are talking about.
2. Study of interactions between blogs and blog authors and communities of blogs. The interaction with people with similar interests is what makes weblogs interesting.
3. Ethnographic studies in weblog communities.
4. Content and style used in weblogs.
5. Study of the use of weblogs in specific organizational contexts.

It's interesting to see that some approaches from this list are rather close to my interests. Especially the interactions (nr 2) and use in organisation (nr 5). And I agree that only reading, observing weblogs is not enough to know what motivates a weblogger, how does he/she write and so on.

Tacit knowledge

Someone told me the following anecdote: "A company had a problem with one of its machineries and no one was able to solve the problem. The company asked a retired employee if he could solve the problem. The old man looked at the machine and asked for a hammer. With the hammer he slammed on the machine and it worked! The retired employee asked the company to pay him 1000 dollars. His former employer found this a lot of money for only one simple hit. Well, said the old man, the hitting was worth one dollar; finding the right place to hit 999 dollar".

I don't know if this is a well-known anecdote, for me it was new, but I found it a nice example of expertise based on experience that is difficult to teach others.

Reasons for blogging

Martin wrote, about a month ago, that blogging is not a sort of "egomaniac journalism".

When you're blogging, you're not broadcasting a post, hoping to be read by the entire world thus satisfying your ego. You are engaging -or trying to engage- into a conversation with a few like-minded people. You are sending ideas into the blogosphere like pollen in the wind to see whether they will fertilize others. It's all about making personal connections and build "communities of meaning", unbounded by geography.

This is a very good argumentation for blogging, and I think they are close to how I see it myself. But I'm not sure if it applies to all bloggers, especially the more personal, non-professional weblogs. I've seen weblogs that really give me the impression "Look at me, how smart I am, how funny, or provocative things I have to say". They don't way for discussions, only numbers of readers. Maybe it is more a description of the KM community of bloggers. I wonder how many cultures there are in the blogsphere, and how they differ in writing style, discussions or reactions on other publications.

More space around is more space in the mind

When we were in Canada we met a Dutch couple who just emigrated to this beautiful country (since August). They started a B&B and a ranch, we made a horse back riding trip with them, and afterwards we talked about Canada and Holland. We agreed that people there are very nice, which you notice for example when driving: they are far more polite and patient than here in Holland! We could learn from that.

Anyway, one remark that I remember is that the woman said (I don't remember the exact words and translating them is also difficult) is that the more space people have (in Canada) around them, the more space they seem to have in their minds. I found that a nice expression and I agree fully with it.

When I look around (back home) I see so many houses are being build, roads, parking places, industrial areas: all concrete and plaster. Even in the "green" area where I live, trees are so easily cut to make place for something non-green. Once taken away, it will never be turned back. We need green around us, to relax from all the stress at work and on the road. A possibility to get at a distance from each other.

I'm jealous of this couple who followed their dream, sold their business here and moved to the unknown, but spacy country. Maybe I should consider...

Back to work

A month of silence and a month no single thought about knowledge management, communities, weblog or other work-related subjects. A whole month in Canada, travelling with a camper (RV) through the Rockies to Vancouver Island and back to Calgary means a lot of nature, wild animals (bears!), walking, whale watching and much more. I'm still suffering a bit on the jet lag and have to work through a long list of e-mails. Pictures will come soon...