Far Wise in Knowledge Management

Draft knowledge management systems standard (ISO 30401)

A lot has been said already about the knowledge management systems standard (ISO 30401). I've read the draft globally, when it was open to the public, till January 16. And I've read some of the discussion about it in the SKIM leaders community (not everything, because I was sick at that time and most is posted when it's night for us). If you want to know more about the standard, you can look at the webinar recording published here.

Overall, I think it's good that the effort was done. I've often wondered why there was no standard, especially because the KM area is not new any more. Reading too that there is a standard for Innovation management, I think it's about time there is a standard for KM. I also feel that there isn't much new that is published about KM, which to me is another sign we're talking about a mature area. For the same reason, I disagree when some people say that it's not possible to put an area like KM in a standard, as it's (application) is too much dependent on the context. Whether this version is sufficient to be "the" standard, is a question I'm not certain to answer. It provides a very generic, but to me limited framework. Same for the choice of words and definitions, I sometimes wonder why this choice was made. The knowledge life cycle, for example, is debatable. Of course, I realize that this is a knowledge management system standard, and it's not a handbook (although the scope refers to "guidelines for establishing a KM system in organization"). I expect a high-level framework  and definitions of the elements to be in place for knowledge management, which each organization will fill in and work out in detail for themselves. I was a bit surprised it to be a mix of high level and at some points details that are worked out (I guess these are the guidelines). It feels like the committee couldn't make a choice.

Many comments and suggestions for change have been submitted and it's now up to the committee to make changes (or not). I believe there will be a voting too, so it's not even certain that this draft will become a final standard. I do understand it will be difficult to have a standard that satisfies everybody, but I hope the comments will improve the current standard to a document that in its base covers the area. And leaves the details to the organizations to fill in.

Better

All my good intentions to blog more often went off the rails when I got sick about two weeks ago. It started with a soar throat, then fever came and I had to stay in bed a few days, which is very unusual for me! Still coughing now and I can't talk too much, but I'm back into a normal rhythm. I'm back into running as well, although it doesn't combine well with coughing. In my mind I wrote several posts, so I hope to be back into a writing rhythm soon as well.

New year, new adventures

Happy New Year! I hope that 2018 will bring you good health and happiness. I always try to avoid posts that look back at the past year, so I won't do that. As well, I don't do resolutions, so you won't find those here as well. I like to think about the exciting things that 2018 is going to bring, at least for the first part of the year.

My eldest nephew is getting married in Windsor (UK) in July, so my sisters, my mother and I are already planning that trip and thinking about what to wear. Our big running race for 2018 will be the Eiger Trail in Switzerland. I've signed up for the 35 km (2500 m elevation) and will start my training for it soon! The training will involve hill training, wherever possible in my area, and strength training, next to the distance running. Another big event will be the Management Book of the Year 2018 Gala, as I'm member of the jury. I'm looking forward to the discussions with the jury team to come to the best Dutch management book. We're still reading the 2017 books and making a first selection for the longlist.

These are three major events already in my plans for this new year. Of course there will be other running races, vacation trips, work-related activities, that will make this year a - hopefully - exciting year!

Is Knowledge Management making a come back?

While for me knowledge management (KM) has never been "dead", I now read in several places that people feel it's making a come back (for example, here or look at the graphs here). A few years ago, Thomas Davenport wrote that " ... knowledge management isn't dead, but it's gasping for breath".

I agree that companies seem to be (more) aware that knowledge is their driving power, the way to make a difference and innovate. Developments like machine learning, artificial intelligence, big data, drive this need to re-think knowledge. Whether they call it knowledge management or not, organizations need a knowledge-related strategy. Is KM different now than it was in the earlier days?

Social media has changed how knowledge is transferred. When I started with KM, we didn't use social media as much as we do now and we didn't consider them in particular as a KM tool. Blogs, Twitter and even Facebook, to name a few, as well as enterprise social media like Yammer, have made it so much easier to access a wealth of knowledge in the company and from all over the world and to connect with peers, wherever they are. As people are using these tools in their private life, they will easily be adopted in the work environment. It's probably management that is more hesitating to use them than the workfloor.

The incremental use of data for decision making through the earlier-mentioned machine learning and big data, is also influencing on KM. The well-known pyramid with data-information-knowledge-wisdom seems even more applicable these days. Data is useless if it can't be turned into information and applied to get work done or make decisions (the knowledge level of the pyramid).

So, to my view, it's mainly the tools that have changed. I hope though that people, knowledge workers, are still the focus. "Collaboration is just another buzzword", I heard someone saying today. As if it will go away in 2018. My view on KM has always been around people, so collaboration, learning, coaching, sharing are part of that. Tools support this, not the other way around. For me this is what it was in my early KM days and what it will be.

If the KM comeback goes together with good strategy, around people, the work they do and the tools they use, I'm happy. Not a specialization, within one role, but for everybody who works with knowledge.

 

 

 

100 Things Successfull People Do - Nigel Cumberland

A small book that I read for review is "100 Things successful people do" by Nigel Cumberland. I read it in Dutch and my review of this book can be found here. Below is the translation of this review. I liked the book, it's a wise and practical guide that I'll go back to, I'm sure.

What does success mean for you? What kind of success do you aspire in your life? With these two questions, Nigel Cumberland starts his book "100 Things successful people do: Habits, mindsets and activities for creating your own success story". Success is different for everyone. For one person it is something big, while the other person will look for success in small things. This book is your guide that helps you achieve your success goal.

Lonely people

When we lived in Canada, we joined the local track club coached by Pete. A few days ago, through Facebook, I found out that Pete is in hospital for a combination of health issues. The most shocking part was that he was found after four days laying on the floor in his apartment. I can only imagine what must have gone through his mind, the fear he had. And I didn't realise how he lives, all by himself. Always with a big smile, making fun, he's there every training session. This post is for all the lonely people, like our coach Pete, who make the best of their lives on their own. Especially these months with family events (Thanksgiving, Sinterklaas, Christmas, New Year), don't forget the people who don't have the support of their families. I'm happy that Pete is doing much better now.

Beautiful management books

Another blog post (in Dutch) that I wrote as member of the jury for Management Book of the Year 2018. This time I wrote about the beautiful books that I received. The text below is a translation of the original post. I've removed the links to books, as they are all Dutch examples.

Why people don't share knowledge

Looking back in my (this) blog archive I'm surprised that I never blogged about barriers for knowledge sharing, while this was a topic that we studied in a project long time ago. Or maybe I didn't search well enough, but since it's a topic that still interests me, it's about time I write about it! I saw an article posted "Why people fail to share knowledge", which triggered my search. It's a topic that keeps coming back and I don't think much has changed over the years. I bet people have the same reasons why they don't share their knowledge as they had say 10 years ago.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck - Mark Manson

I received a Dutch translation of the book "The subtle art of not giving a f*ck: The counterintuitive approach to living a good life" by Mark Manson for review from Managementboek.nl. As I'm now member of the jury of Management Book of the Year 2018, I don't want to review books that could potentially be a candidate for the longlist or shortlist. That's why I asked for a translated book to review, those won't qualify for becoming Management book of the year (books have to be written in Dutch). Looking at the title of this book ("The subtle art of not giving a f*ck"), I wasn't sure if it is a book that I would like. After reading it, I have to say that it has useful advice and that it's better to ignore the title (and the f* words). My review (in Dutch) can be found here. For this blog, I've translated to English, so it could be the case that I'm using other words than the English version of the book, which I didn't read.

Hobbies

When I was thinking about passion, this picture was posted by Get Out There (a Canadian Magazine for outdoor activities that has fun race reviews on YouTube). It reflects well my thoughts in less words than my post. This blog is related to my first "hobby", knowledge management and related topics. The hobby to keep me in shape is running (in case you didn't know). I like every bit of running. Well, except the injuries that I had plenty of (I wish I could add now "in the past", I just hope I have it under control now!). Running helps me to get rid of any stress, to meet people and to discover new areas. The third one also applies. I don't think I've blogged about knitting, but that is sort of my creative side. I say 'sort of', because I use other people's designs (patterns). It's fun to make something. Selecting beautiful yarn and turn it into a sweater that looks nice on me (I mostly knit sweaters and in most cases they are for me). Another creative part of me is writing book reviews, which I post about more often. All these hobbies combined give a good indication of how a I spend a lot of time.