Knowledge Management

[Richard Charles Holloway]

Joe,

adopting the practices and principles necessary to begin developing an
organizational memory require significant cultural and operational changes.
However, many people within the organization cannot "feel" the need for
change sufficiently to motivate themselves to begin a change.

There are 2 imperatives, as I see it.  One is the educational piece which
people need to make informed choices to become change agents.  The other is
to provide a media for  change agents to self-organize priorities, ways and
means to initiate and sustain the change.  This is where OST may be most
beneficial.

The educational piece can generate awareness of the pain organizations feel
without the central nervous system and memory they need to grow to become a
real learning (and adaptive) organization.

OST can provide them with a self-organizing media with which to develop the
skills, practices, principles which will sustain the changes necessary to
realize shaping their future.  This is where I'm beginning to use OS in my
"KM" consulting practice.

good luck.  I've noticed many large and small consulting firms are jumping
on the KM wagon.

regards,

Richard


------------------
"I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the
people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise
their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from
them, but to inform their discretion by education." --Thomas Jefferson

Richard Charles Holloway -
P.O. Box 2361, Olympia, WA 98507 USA Telephone 253.539.4014 or 206.568.7730
Thresholds <http://www.thresholds.com>
Meeting Masters <http://www.thresholds.com/masters.html>

>From  Thu Sep 30 16:14:53 1999
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Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 16:14:53 -0400
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To: OSLIST <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
From: Larry Peterson <lpasoc at inforamp.net>
Subject: Re: Knowledge Management
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I don't think Open Space is appropriate for Knowledge "Management". I don't
think you can manage the kind of knowledge or learning that emerges in Open
Space. However, it is marvelous for creating "communities of practice" (see
Etien Wenger's work) such as those created at Xerox and elsewhere. Knowledge
is shared and new learning discovered in these communities. I developed such
"communities" for 17 years while working with the issue of homelessness in
Canada. I am working on a team with a client who has used one Open Space to
reduce misundertanding between key actors in a project and is exploring
other ways to engage the knowledge that is both conscious and not yet
conscious in his organization.

Larry

Larry Peterson
Associates in Transformation
41 Appleton Ave., Toronto, ON,
Canada, M6E 3A4
Tel:/Fax: 416-653-4829

lpasoc at inforamp.net
http://www.inforamp.net/~lpasoc