KMUK11 - the sweet taste of bitterness

By now, you all know, KM conferences are tough, too much sweets (desert & café), at a certain point of time it simply becomes a matter of digesting capacity. There were many inspiring contributions, which I one way or the other try to cover here from various angles, but the most touching for me personally came from Chris Shilling (Newhow Knowhow, formerly Novartis).

My mind was wandering, taken away by what I had heard on: “Weekly new digest, interactive E-library, global training course, dynamic authorities’ process map, fully integrated intranet site, pilot of innovative guidance analysis tool, re-purposed Brand PR manual, version 1 of key workflow process system – all Chris’ successful output.

via stockxchng, lime/lemon by lockstockb

via stockxchng, chocolate by violator06

My mind was wandering, when the bomb exploded, so I heard it, but it took seconds, until it hit my nerve system:”And then I was without a job!”

“KM is about people” okay, it’s our mantra, “KM has failed”, okay, we coquet with it, but come on, we have never been that serious about it, we never thought it would hit us as Knowledge Managers. Okay, it is not rocket science, you can count it on your fingers, you could see it coming, but in Chris’ presentations it for the first time reached my heart: KM failure can mean my personal failure! (this was, what I took away for myself inspired by the presentations, from what I have seen in the presentation Chris failed to fail really, to him just shit happened).

And why was it so impressive to see this guy? Because it takes some courage to stand in front of the hungry – you learned it already, Knowledge Managers, at least me, are always hungry – with nothing but the bitter pill. Because he refrained from spilling poison. Because he seemed to have come out of the crisis stronger.

via stockxchng, downstairs 1 by dropowtt

Which directly leads to Nick Davies (The Really Great Training Company): “KM has failed?! What do you expect, if you sit down in the basement and talk to nobody” Again I am disgusting and put my words into others people’s mouth: KM comes out of the crisis stronger, only if it comes out stronger (of the isolation), that is e.g. gets more into the business, e.g. comes out of the KM pupation, leaves the old, lame name behind and creates value. Both topics must wait for another post, because Nick wonderfully played with some numbers: The 4 Big Mistakes, the 2 Essentials and the Big 6. Just in case anybody from university reads this, yes, the details I put into the footnotes.

regards

gerald

footnotes, taken from Nick Davies, The Really Great Training Company

The 4 Big Mistakes:

1. Going in tough, with all guns blazing (Coll your jets big guy)

2. Regarding it as a single event (Good things come to those who wait)

3. Relying to much on logic ("Imagination is more important then knowledge." Einstein)

4. Worrying about addressing wants rather than satisfying the needs of others.

The 2 Essentials - you must have to get people to do something they wouldn't ordinarilly do

Credibility

Trust

The Big 6 - We feel compelled to do things for one or several of the following:

Reciprocity - You scratched my back, so I'll scratch yours

Likeability - "I like Sally and she's bought one, so I'll have one too."

Social Proof - "How much have other people sponsored you for?"

Scarcity - "Ooh, well, I don't want to miss out!"

Consistency - "I signed the petition, so I really should give them a donation."

Authority - "Doctor knows best."