Preface
Many organizations still struggle to make best use of the knowledge that exists within them. While individuals might use their knowledge on a daily basis and for their decisions, frequently that knowledge is not shared and leveraged across the organization from one person to another. A common notion of how to make this transfer of knowledge happen is via technical systems. Those systems play a role as an enabler, but they are only one piece of the puzzle to make the flow of knowledge work in an organization. This book looks at the other factors that are involved and specifically focuses on human aspects. What motivates people to share their knowledge, and how can you overcome some of the barriers that are in the way of a good flow of knowledge in your organization? How should you deal with measuring? What are some of the best drivers that you can put in place not only to get a knowledge flow initiative started but to make sure it survives and can provide longer-term value?
When I started my first initiative (named ToolPool) back in 1997, it was purely to solve a very specific business problem: to leverage technical tools, tips, and tricks around a global organization. Over the years, it turned out that lasting success was based on a lot of factors of which the technical infrastructure was actually a smaller piece than anticipated. I was fortunate enough to get management support to pursue a number of approaches that helped drive ToolPool to what it eventually became. I was also fortunate enough to have a great team that understood the key principles and invested their energy and passion into driving it to success.
Over the last decade I have used a number of the lessons learned and applied them to a range of initiatives designed to improve the knowledge flow at my current company. The more I recognized patterns of what worked and what did not and the more I discussed those findings with others interested in making knowledge flow better, the clearer it became that putting the key findings into a book would be a good idea. Whenever I presented the ideas at internal meetings, external conferences, or company keynotes, the feedback was positive and spawned many fruitful discussions.
During the winter holidays leading into 2009 I came to the conclusion that this might be the year to get started. The end result of the effort offers you 10 chapters of experiences, lessons learned, examples, and stories to illustrate the main key success factors.
Chapter 1 sets the stage with clarifying some of the terminology used. It also introduces what I understand as a holistic view of managing the flow of knowledge. At the end of the chapter the main case study used in the book, ToolPool, is introduced.
Chapter 2 discusses a number of elements that are important to see clearly before starting or in the early phase of launching an initiative. What should the support organization look like? What are some of the key questions you need to ask before you start?
Chapter 3 takes a closer look at a number of roles that participants will or should play over the lifetime of an initiative.
Chapter 4 discusses passionate initiative support, culture, and trust and how they influence the success of enhancing the knowledge flow.
Chapter 5 goes deeper into some of the main drivers for success. How can you use marketing not only to get started but to sustain an initiative? What are some of the ways to grow an initiative and keep your participants motivated to contribute to it?
Chapter 6 takes a different angle by looking at barriers that might be hindering the flow of knowledge and giving a range of examples and solutions on how it might be possible to reduce those barriers.
Chapter 7 looks at the role of technology and how too much focus on technology will endanger your initiative. It also introduces new ways to look at technology and its role within the knowledge flow.
Chapter 8 offers some lessons learned around measuring your initiative. How should you measure? What are some of the key indicators you might want to use? It also looks at the limits of measuring and why you should be very careful with using measures as drivers.
Chapter 9 attempts a cautious look into the future. What are some of the platforms that will play a role in how people share their knowledge in the years to come? Based on the role that Web 2.0 technologies and related processes play, some trends are discussed.
Chapter 10 concludes with some final thoughts and a pointer to a place where further discussion might happen.
At the end of the book you will find Appendix A: Key Success Factors. This list collects the main clarifications and specificactions to take into account in order to tackle issues that you encounter within areas like marketing, barriers, measuring, and motivation.
As the areas of knowledge flow management are steadily evolving, the chapters in this book can only cover a subset of all the issues you might encounter on your way to master the knowledge flow in your organization. But most of the principles are general enough to be applied even after technology has evolved and social processes have changed. The key is to keep a holistic view, spend considerable and persistent effort to manage all those aspects that are directly connected to human behavior, and see technology as the enabler but not as the sole solution.
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