Far Wise in Knowledge Management

First Management Book of the Year 2018 Jury Meeting

I posted earlier this month that I was honored to become member of the jury for Management book of the year 2018. All members of the jury got their first box with over 30 books, all Dutch management books published in the first months of the year 2017. Each book was read by two members of the jury and was scored along some criteria. The score would lead to a conclusion: good enough for the longlist (yes/no)?

When I started reading and scoring, I was a bit worried: can I do this? Do I know enough about the large variety of topics, to be able to give my judgment? And to discuss my findings with the group, who probably is much more knowledgeable than I am. Plus, do I have enough time for this? I didn't need to worry. The scoring criteria helped me a lot and for many books it was easy to determine whether it would be a potential "Management book of the year" (not many are!). At this phase it's not possible to fully read all books and I developed a strategy of reading sections and scanning to get an impression of the book. Still, it took me quite some time to go through the pile (and it's only the first box!).

All scoring lists were combined and during the jury meeting last week Friday, we (only) discussed the books that had a disagreement in the longlist score. One jury member could say "yes" and the other reader of the group would say "no", and if they stuck to their judgment, we would assign a third reader. It worked quite well and it was interesting to hear what other jury members read and how they thought about certain books.

I hope you understand that I can't say anything here about specific books untill we publish the longlist, which will be end of January next year. Up to now, I find it an interesting experience and very different from reviewing journal articles. My experience with journal articles (only few) is that it was far more demanding with regard to expertise in the area. We now ask similar questions, how new is it, how relevent, but for a broader area, which I find easier.

Are we in the midst of a digital storm surge? Book review

A large passenger ship navigates past the iceberg. The skye is dark. The captain doesn't think it is necessary to take measure to these dangerous peaks in the water, because this ship is the best of the best. The rest of the story is known: the Titanic, this is the passenger ship we're talking about, sank in 1912. Many passengers didn't survive. If we don't take precautions, we will go down like the Titanic, is the warning Brenno de Winter gives us in his book "Digitale stormvloed" (Digital Storm Surge). This is the review I wrote (in Dutch) about this book for Managementboek.nl.

In short chapters, De Winter describes technological developement that are happening right now. Take the sea of data that can be used with smart technology (artificial intelligence) to solve complex issues. More and more, devices are connected to the internet. Your home security camera at the front door, for example, that shows you who's ringing the bell. Very convenient, but how safe is this connection? Who knows who's looking with you... And, as another example, have you thought what driverless cars will do with the job market? 

We live in a vertical society, especially regarding trust. We in general trust the layer above us, like governace. Blockchain is a technology that allows for horizontal control and trust. All transactions between individuals and organization will get stored in a large public ledger that can be studied by anybody. Sharing platform like Airbnb and Marktplaats (Dutch online market place) show that we move to a horizontal society. A good development, although De Winter gives a warning too: we now see more drivers without license and complete occupational areas in which professionals are forced to become independent contractor or freelancer.

When talking about security, or lack of security, De Winter comes to full steam. We have far too much a "wait-and-see" attitude. Yes, Cybersecurityraad (Cyber security advisory board) has given advice. This advice is however not enough, just the minimum, according to De Winter. The real measures will come when the ship went down, as happened with the Titanic. The world-wide Wannacry ransonware attack show how vunrable we are, this could affect many of us. Companies often consider themselves victims of such attacks, but the real victims are their customers, of whom the personal information has become public.

 Is "Digital Stormvloed" a book of doom and is Brenno de Winter a pessimist? He is not, but if you feel warned after reading his book, his mission is complete. 

 

Webinar APQC about Bombardier's collaboration tool

Years ago, I heard a Bombardier presentation about their engineering Communities of Practice, which the company had started in 2012. It was interesting, especially at that time I lived in Canada and Bombardier is a Canadian company (headquartered in Montreal). That was years ago, so I was cursious to hear about their progress in another presentation, an APQC webinar (link to recording and slides).

 The presentation, titled "How to deploy a smooth takeoff when launching a collaborative tool", didn't discuss the communities, but the technology that was implemented at Bombardier - a collaboration platform. This (SharePoint) platform has many functionalities, the most important: expertise locator and enterprise search, which were discussed here. To introduce the tool, there were classroom sessions, online, one-on-one executive demonstrations, FAQ. Much attention was paid to the change management side of the introduction (i.e., the people side).

Some of Bombardier's key learnings were:

• Explain how it (the collaboration tool) relates to people's reality: What is in it for me?
• Strong document management strategy at business level needed
• Invest time in change management strategy and communication

Some success factors:

• Full engagement of sponsors and management teams
• Dedicated time for users to participate in training and integrate tool in day-t0-day activities
• High quality data available for users
• Lead by Business, supported by IT.

Although the presenters started with "People-Process-Technology", they emphasize "It's all about the people, the end users".

 The platform and the way it was introduced reminded me of the collaboration tool that was implemented at BlackBerry, which I helped to roll out in the Quality department. It was not the same tool (we used IBM's Lotus Connections), but I see similarities and recognize some of the issues the Bombardier team encountered. Although BlackBerry is also an engineering environment, I think the issues are quite generic, related to change in general. The presenters said this article about convincing skeptical people in HBR was very helpful to them, as well as Carla O'Dell's presentation "KM in the Age of Digital Transformation" and the report "The Executive's Role in Knowledge Management" (both from APQC).

Help Employees Create Knowledge - Not Just Share IT (Article in HBR)

John Hagell III and John Seely Brown wrote an interesting article in HBR, emphasizing that sharing knowledge is not enough for organizations. Sharing knowledge basically means existing knowledge is accessible for those who might need it. It is aimed at efficiency, or “scalable efficiency”. The authors however argue that creating new knowledge is the most valuable form of learning, especially nowadays when improvising and trying out is important dealing with new situations. “Scalable learning” is what John Hagell III and John Seely Brown call the new kind of learning that organizations need.

It's not a new thought (my first reflection was the book "The knowledge creating company" by Nonaka and Takeuchi), but a good reminder that we don't only the sharing of knowledge but creation of new knowledge as well. I see a parallel with innovation versus efficiency, some companies tend to focus on one, while I think both are needed.

The rest of the article goes into five distinctions that managers should understand:

1. Explicit versus tacit knowledge
2. Individuals versus work groups and networks
3. Learning versus performance improvement
4. Learning versus unlearning
5. Skills versus capabilities

 

Books and even more books to read

The last two posts were old drafts waiting to be published. They both were about books that I read as reviewed for Managementboek.nl. I started reviewing books sometime in 2005 and I lost count of the number of books that I read and wrote a review about. A few months ago I received an email from Kees Visser (one of the two owners of Managementboek) who invited me to become member of the jury for "Management book of the year 2017". I am honored to be asked and have accepted the invitation. I always wondered how the jury works and how it would be to be part of this process of selecting the best Dutch management book. The years I lived abroad I missed the ceremony evening, for which I was invited as reviewer every year. When we returned, I was able to join once, but next year I will be there with 5 other jury members!

At our first jury meeting we discussed the criteria for selecting books. The first step is to make a long list, which will contain about 40-50 books. After that we will get to a short list of 5 books and finally one winner. We all got a box with about 30 books to start and this is only the first collection of books that have been published in 2017! Each book is read by 2 jury members and in later stages we will all read the books. Over 30 books to be read in a short time, I can't read them thorougly. It's good we have a list of criteria, which are (among others): relevant, original, readable and current. For some books it was quite easy, they won't make the long list. For other books I will read some chapters of the book to make the decision. It's quite exciting to be member of the jury and I look forward to the discussions we're going to have. I'm curious (just as many others will be) what book we will end with. 

(Note: The logo picture above should have 2018 instead of 2017 of course, but I haven't found the current picture yet)

Would you hire yourself?

Do you know these tv-programs in which people decide to leave their home country, sell everything they own to start a new life in a foreign country? Usually a bed & breakfast or a campsite. Job applicants are often like the participants at such tv program (in the Netherlands "Ik vertrek"), thinks Freek van Kraaikamp. They hardly prepare, don't understand the culture and rules - hardly know what they have started.

Worse, participants at "Ik vertrek" don't know themselves at all. No wonder these emigrants have problems succeeding in a foreign country. When recruiters look as painfully to our resumes as we look at participants at "Ik vertrek", it is not strange that we won't get this fantastic job?

Time to look in the mirror. The book "Zou jij jezelf aannemen?", or "Would you hire yourself?" can help you. Freek van Kraaikamp provokes in a lively manner, combines his questions with stores and anekdotes. He tells how he gained insight by trial and error and how he learned to present himself. Those insights he shares as a career coach and in this book. No shortages of ideas for Van Kraaikamp: wouldn't it be nice if hundred thousands of young people looking for their first jobs, would get this book from Minister Asscher (Minister of Social Affairs and Employment)?

The job market is not like it was before. Sending your resume to as many job adds as possible, in the hope one will hit target, is no longer working. Recruiters receive tons of resumes in their inbox. Try to stand out among all other applicants! Preparations start with finding an answer to the questions: who am I?, what can I do?, what do I want? You need to spend some time to reflect on yourself. What is your story? If you don't know the answer to this question, how should the recruiter at the other side of the table know the answer? The mirror exercises in the book help. "How to describe yourself and your search in one sentence", is an example. Another exercise is to create a catchy title that includes both your knowledge and experience, as well as what you're looking for. Van Kraaikamp gives many examples. Some of these self-descriptions will be to generic, others are too specific. Van Kraaikamp teaches you to find the middle. A crisp and clear message.

Van Kraaikamp often uses himself as example. He wants to tell that, although your career swings all directions, although you've failed in many ways, you can find patterns and learn about yourself. The book (only in Dutch) "Zou jij jezelf aannemen?" has much to offer for anyone looking for a new job. If there is something I have missed, it would be networking tips. 

What do you think: would you hire yourself?

What a difference good onboarding makes

A while ago I reviewed a Dutch book called "Onboarding" (only available in Dutch), written by Adriënne Verhoeven. I picked this book for review because I think the onboarding of new employees can be done much better and I was hoping this book would give guidelines. I was not disappointed. It's a useful as a guide for (HR) managers and provided useful insights that were new for me as well.

New employees start with expectations and questions: what will it be like to work here? How is the atmosphere? How is the team? Will we get along? Apparently, as research shows, the first few months in a new job appear to be crucial for the overall picture and will determine if the new hire stays or not. Unfortunately, despite the enthusiasm at the start, many new employees get disappointed. Interestingly it's the so-called hard facts, like salary, training options and introduction that score highest on disappointing factors. Reality was coloured too nicely during the recruitment phase. The so-called soft facts, like atmosphere, culture, colleagues turn out to be better than expected. 

Good onboarding helps to manage expectations (on both sides!), getting to know the culture, building a network and supporting the new job. In this way it's different from an introduction; it serves a more strategic goal and asks for customization.

I liked this book and it's structured planning for good onboarding of new employees, because I think it can be done so much better in many companies. When I started working at the Dutch Association of Insurers  (Verbond van Verzekeraars) in February 2016, its welcome was warm and personal. There was no structured plan, so even there is room for improvement, but I was given time to meet many people in the organization and get to understand the way the organization functions. It helped a lot to make me feel "at home".