Category Archives: KM History

People, Organization, Technology?

I see my friend Dave Snowden is extending/rethinking/refining his Cynefin framework, which emboldens me to follow through on an idea that won’t leave me.  More completely, an idea that challenges some basic axioms and cliches that have haunted my PowerPoint/Keynote … Continue reading

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Defibrillating Knowledge Management

This is not the original title for this blog, the change is a bow towards the good folks on the ACT-KM listserv, some of whom are checking for a pulse on the teenaged wrist of Knowledge Management. The social graph … Continue reading

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How a Memory Palace Fuels the Elevator Speech

My apologies for the mixed metaphor in the title, but I’m pressed for time these days.  I certainly need to improve my blogging frequency, monthly just does not cut it with me. We recently began to settle on a strategy … Continue reading

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Standing on the Toes of Giants

Regarding my reference above, Gary Klein defines the Recognition-Primed Decision model thus : “[it] fuses two processes: the way decision makers size up the situation to decide which course of action makes sense, and the way they evaluate to evaluation that course of action by imagining it.” (p.24) Klein, in a his ground-breaking work regarding decision-making, shares the findings from a decade doing field research: decisions are not made according to classic methods of rational choice theory, but closer to Simon’s satisficing model . … Some excellent points are made by Bill Kaplan in comments to my original pos t, and by some justifiably emotional voices on the email chain I referenced earlier: Grassroots efforts do exist and thrive, but they have failed to scale across the Department or to effect the lasting change for which we all hope.

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The Day DoD KM Died

Yesterday, I was most privileged to sit in on a session with some of the senior folk in DoD Knowledge Management (KM). The setup encouraged an intimate conversation among these government leaders, with twice more their number sitting and observing … Continue reading

Posted in KM History, National Security | 24 Comments

PNSR: Knowledge Management and the Market Dynamics of U.S. National Security

The following is a “revised and extended” version of my remarks at the PNSR Futures Conference this week in Washington D.C. (PNSR = Project on National Security Reform.)   FINDING: The national security system is not organization, nor even a … Continue reading

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On "Lessons Learned" Programs

Chain of events: Acquaintance writes email, referencing this blog from APQC.  I respond with a rant, augmented by a couple of acidic twitter messages to release steam.  These rants are posted to my Facebook status line, and results in a … Continue reading

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So What Is Knowledge Management, Anyway

As part of this reform legislation, I’ve been asked to provide a definition for KM.  I’ve managed to avoid this for, oh, 11 years.  But no longer.  There are at least 47 definitions of KM, as compiled by one blogger.  … Continue reading

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KM Mentoring, Episode 1

My brother-in-law is an economist by training, and imparted the following wisdom to me last week:  “Every bottle of wine costs no more than $2.50 to produce, the rest is just a lot of hands picking your pocket.” Which got … Continue reading

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Is Knowledge a Product or Process?

A debate is underway, or should I say continues, regarding the nature of knowledge. If this sounds like an obscure debate regarding philosophy, cognitive science, and complexity, well, it is. But it also drives management behaviors if you are to … Continue reading

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