Don’t do KM!

David GurteenGurteen

Knowledge

KM Middle East 2011, United Arab Emirates - Abu Dhabi

You don’t do KM

You solve business problems and develop business opportunities

There are no KM initiatives or strategies– They conceptualise the problem– A project is never just about KM

There are only business projects Use KM thinking & tools to respond to

business issues

Most KM projects fail!

Nothing wrong with KM, KM tools and techniques– very powerful indeed

The challenges– KM projects are NOT focused on the business– KM projects are tough– KM project leaders are often inexperienced– KM projects poorly conceived– KM projects poorly managed– Lack of support from senior management– Lack of support from employees– Lack of understanding or a misunderstanding of KM– Lack of understanding of organizational complexity– Lack of understanding of human behavior

Four KEY questions to ask yourself

The questions

1. What are the business problems we are trying to solve?

2. How do we ensure support from senior management and how do we sustain that support?

3. How do we engage the people in our organization?

4. How do we clearly demonstrate success?

Some further thoughts on how to ensure your KM projects are a

success

Think! There is no substitute for thinking

Think for yourself!

Think for yourself

No substitute for thinking No recipes or prescriptions No simple set of steps You need to think for yourself No one can tell you what to do KM is highly contextual …

Context

In our complex business world context is everything

Things are different– each of you are different– your industry– your organization– your people– history– timing– politics– competition

Identify the business issuesIdentify the business issues

Identify the business problems, opportunities or risks that need to be responded to

Albert Einstein on problems

If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution,

I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask,

for once I know the proper question,

I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.

We jump far too quickly to a “solution” without really

understanding the problem!

Its better to do the right thing badly than the wrong thing well!

Business issues and outcomes

“People will not share their knowledge” is NOT a business issue

“Implementing a knowledge sharing system” is NOT a business outcome

Business issues and outcomes

“Slowness to market of new products” is a business issue

“Shortening the time to market of new products” is a business outcome

Business outcomes

These are not business outcomes– Doing KM– Improving knowledge sharing– Creating a learning organization– Creating a knowledge driven organization– Setting up communities of practice

These are business outcomes– Cutting costs; Improving profit– Improving quality– Reducing staff turn over

Identify the business issues

Talk to CEO and senior business managers

What keeps them awake at night?

Don’t do things to people!

If you have to ask “how do we motivate people” then you are taking the wrong approach!

Work with people

An innovative, healthy organization requires that we work with people rather than do things to them. Alfie Kohn

Motivation is intrinsic!

You cannot motivate people Motivation is inherently intrinsic People have to find it for themselves Attempts to motivate are actually

manipulation and are usually seen as such And have an adverse affect

Do not reward

Do not reward people for sharing their knowledge

Rewards

Research shows that giving rewards (even praise) actually results in worse performance and undermines intrinsic motivation

To the best of my knowledge, no controlled scientific study has ever found a long-term enhancement of the quality of work as a result of any reward system.

Alfie Kohn

Alfie Kohn and Dan Pink

Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Dan Pink

Do not reward

Rewards punish Rewards rupture relations Rewards ignore reasons Rewards deter risk taking Rewards undermine interest

Credit: Alfie Kohn

• Rewards are gamed

If we don’t reward what do we do?

Alfie Kohn

Pay people well Pay people fairly Then do everything possible to make money

(rewards) off people’s minds

Incentives, bonuses, pay-for-performance-plans and other reward

systems violate this last principle by their very nature!

Love what you do

Loving what you do is a more powerful

motivator than any goody including

money.

Alfie Kohn

Bob Buckman

Our approach to KM is far more than stick or carrot.

"Knowledge Sharing is your job. Do it!"

As a reward you may keep your job.

Daniel Pink

Provide opportunities for– Autonomy– Mastery– Purpose

Some questions to leave you with!

Is my KM activity focused on the business? Have I really understood the problems? Am I thinking for myself? Are senior managers bought in? Are employees & other stakeholders bought in? How do I demonstrate success? Am I measuring business outcomes & not just

activity? What do I do in place of rewards?

Questions

David GURTEEN Gurteen Knowledge Fleet, United Kingdom

Tel: +44 7774 178 650 Email: david.gurteen@gurteen.com

www.gurteen.com