institutional memory and knowledge management

Institutional Memoryand

Knowledge Management

Harold Jarche jarche.comSunday, 11August, 2013

Part 1Knowledge Structuring

Sunday, 11August, 2013

event memories: e.g. construction of new facilities

process memories: how things are done in order to repeat them

decision memories: how & why we chose one course of action over another

http://www.gongol.com/institutionalmemory/

Types of Institutional Memory




Artifacts left by projects

Information & outputs produced [explicit]

Expertise [implicit]

A network of connections [implicit & explicit]

https://km4meu.wordpress.com/2013/06/30/modern-musings-on-a-km-evergreen-institutional-memory/




Events Processes Decisions Connections

jarche.com

ExpertiseOutputs

increaseddifficulty to codifyand share

knowledge explicit implicit

Codifying Knowledge



jarche.com

ExpertiseOutputs

Big KM Little KM Personal KM

Knowledge Structuring Methods



Big KM

structured & organizationally contextual

Little KM

provides ways for groups to try new methods, safely

Personal KM

gives individuals tools & time to seek, sense & share

http://www.theappgap.com/three-kms.html




decision memories:

how & why we chose

one course of action

over another


Decision Memories:

part implicit & part explicit knowledge

Bridge to Connections & Expertise

Big KM as input

Little KM to make it work

PKM to make it stick


http://institutionalmemory.hbs.edu/

Big KM*

* enterprise-wideSunday, 11August, 2013

http://institutionalmemory.hbs.edu

http://institutionalmemory.hbs.edu

Little KM*

Curation

Communities of Practice

Mentoring

Collaboration ...

* solving immediate problems


“Curation is about making sense

of a topic / issue / event / person / product, etc.

for a specific audience.”

- Robin Good, Master New Media

Your Team is Your Audience

Little KM


A set of processes, individually constructed,

to help each of us make sense of our world

& work more effectively.

jarche.com/pkm


Institutional Memory feeds off:

strong personal knowledge management [PKM] among individual staff members ...





Personal – according to one’s abilities, interests & motivation (not directed by external forces).

Knowledge – connecting information to experience (know what, know who, know how).

Management – getting things done (not being managed).

PKM


Sensecreate

team

Seek

Share

CoP

socialnetwork

team

CoP

filter

discern

Seek - Sense - Share*filtering from our networks; creating individually and with our teams

& then discerning with whom and when to share

socialnetwork

*Personal KMjarche.com/pkm



jarche.com

ExpertiseOutputs


Content Management

Communities of Practice

Network Mapping/Analysis

Collaboration Tools

Self-publishing

Examples:


Part 2Complexity


connect implicit knowledge

for complex work

through narration & stories


“strong interpersonal relationships that allowed discussion, questions, and feedback

were an essential aspect of the transfer of complex knowledge”

Pamela J. Hinds & Jeffrey PfefferWhy Organizations Don’t ‘‘Know What They Know’’

in Sharing Expertise: Beyond Knowledge Management2003


complex (customized) work is highly contextualand requires greater implicit knowledge

Routine Technical

Craft Knowledge

Major Categories of Work

CustomizedWork

StandardizedWork

knowledgeexplicit implicit

implicit knowledge is best shared through conversations (stories & narration) and strong social relationships


Cynefin Domains

Simple, in which the relationship between cause and effect is obvious to all, the approach is to Sense - Categorise - Respond and we can apply best practice.

Complicated, in which the relationship between cause and effect requires analysis or some other form of investigation and/or the application of expert knowledge,

the approach is to Sense - Analyze - Respond and we can apply good practice.

Complex, in which the relationship between cause and effect can only be perceived in retrospect, but not in advance, the approach is to Probe - Sense - Respond

and we can sense emergent practice.

Chaotic, in which there is no relationship between cause and effect at systems level, the approach is to Act - Sense - Respond and we can discover novel practice

- Wikipedia

Cynefin Framework (Snowden & Kurtz)

Best practices do not work in complex domains


Cynefin Framework, Dave Snowdencognitive-edge.com

Big KMLittle KM

Personal KM

complex environments require emergent practicesusing a P-S-R approach


ProbeMake a change

Sense & Review

Respond/Act

Question the Context

“We conduct safe-fail experiments. We don’t do fail-safe design.

If an experiment succeeds, we amplify it. If an experiment fails, we dampen it.”

- Dave Snowden

* Little KM can enable groups to practice P-S-R

COMPLEXITY

decision memories


Connections drive innovation.

We need input from people with a diversity of viewpoints

to help generate innovative new ideas.

If our circle of connections grow too small,

or if everyone in it starts thinking the same way,

we’ll stop generating new ideas.

- Tim Kastelle, University of Queensland

2010


Image: Verna Allee

most organizations are designed for complicated order;need to foster networks to deal with complex un order


Collaboration:working together for a common objective.

Cooperation:openly sharing, without any quid pro quo.

jarche.com


Work Teams

Communitiesof Practice

Social Networks

Hierarchical

Informal

Goal-oriented Opportunity-driven

Collaboration& Cooperation

for knowledge work

Collaboration

Cooperation

Collab & Co-op

jarche.com

share complex knowledge

increase innovation

test new ideas


Part 3Storytelling & Narration


Openness

TransparencyDiversity

ofIdeas

enables reinforces

fosters

trust

effective knowledge networks are open

trust emerges through transparency and

acceptance of diverse ideas & opinions

jarche.com


1. build an explicit strategy for maintenance

2. identify key things for everyone to know or do & turn this to an explicit expectation.

3. create processes to capture & curate institutional knowledge [e.g. PKM]

- Ron Ashkenashttp://blogs.hbr.org/ashkenas/2013/03/how-to-preserve-institutional.html

How to Preserve Institutional Knowledge(make it explicit)


http://blogs.hbr.org/ashkenas/2013/03/how-to-preserve-institutional.html

http://blogs.hbr.org/ashkenas/2013/03/how-to-preserve-institutional.html

Openness

TransparencyDiversity

ofIdeas

enables reinforces

fosters

trust

narration

socialnetworks

innovation

make knowledge explicit through narration & storytelling

jarche.com


data + story = context

data + knowledge = information

knowledge & stories are personal

jarche.com


http://www.anecdote.com.au/archives/2011/01/the_uncanny_val.html

Little s:anecdotesexamplesrecounts

Big S:mythslegendsepics

Take the Story Test:http://thestorytest.com/

Big KMLittle KM

Personal KM




http://thestorytest.com

http://thestorytest.com

Storytelling and narration

for Big KM ...


Qualcomm Story Criteria:

1. Does the story fit into one of the company’s values, such as execution or innovation?

2. Does it meet some other organizational goal?

3. Is it memorable?

http://clomedia.com/articles/view/storytelling_drives_knowledge_and_information_sharing_across_qualcomm/2







for Little KM ...


Story = Character

+ Predicament + Attempted Extrication

Would it be more effective if

organizational knowledge

was developed as stories?

http://www.jarche.com/2013/07/the-storytelling-animal/




“the simplest advice for beginners

is to make a point,

tell a story illustrating that point,

then give your reasons,

and then reiterate that point.”

- Shawn Callahan, Anecdote



for Personal KM ...


Comprehension

is

mapping your

stories onto mine- Roger Schank

in good stories, we do not

give answers

http://www.jarche.com/2013/07/institutional-memory/Sunday, 11August, 2013

http://www.jarche.com/2013/07/institutional-memory/

http://www.jarche.com/2013/07/institutional-memory/

“Information is a weak form of communication.”

- Viola Spolincreator of “Theater Games” actor training system

“Story becomes important in the ordering of all this information.”

- Gary Schwartzfounder Intuitive Learning System


Higher Value

Institutional Knowledge

is often found in the

Complex Domain of Work ...


Environment,Problem Type,

Situation

Optimal Work Practices

Optimal Interaction & Communication Method

Simple (1) Best Practices Coordination

Complicated (2) Good Practices Collaboration

Complex (3) Emergent Practices Cooperation

Chaotic (4) Novel Practices Action

1: Can usually be addressed by procedures and enterprise software2: Can be addressed through work practices & assisted by enterprise software3: Requires greater human involvement and sharing implicit knowledge4: A state to be avoided, or a crisis to be immediately addressed


Institutional Memory: Big + Little + Personal KM

Get people together for regular activities where they can talk to each other.

Ensure “knowledge capture” tools are available and easy to use - like

whiteboards, mobile devices, social networks, file-sharing,

self-publishing, etc.

institutionalcoffeetime

jarche.comSunday, 11August, 2013

institutional memory and knowledge management

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