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A recent issue of Training magazine (www.trainingmag.com) had an article
on knowledge management (KM). Bristo-Myers Squibb found that their
scientists spent 9 hours a week (18% of their time) looking for information
to drive their research. Reduce the search time and you accelerate the
project. The goal of KM is to create an environment where anyone can ask,
'Does anybody know how to do X?' and get a quick, reliable answer.
"The driving idea behind KM really does sound wonderful: Identify
not just the key knowledge...in formal documents, but also the 'tacit'
wisdom and expertise that exists in the heads of individual employees--the
80 percent of every company's know-how that walks out the door at the
end of each workday. Then organize it, classify it, and make it easily
accessible to other employees who need that knowledge to perform their
jobs well."
Unfortunately, document management software became the technology solution
to KM, but the big gap is still in mining the employee mind. "When
a KM effort leads with technology, you almost guarantee failure,"
says Consultant Melinda Bickerstaff.
Succeeding at Knowledge Management
Focus! Begin with a specific bit of business
wisdom that someone in your organization knows and that others could benefit
from knowing as well.
Does someone in your company consistently:
- Sell more?
- Produce more?
- Have fewer complaints?
- Engender more customer loyalty?
- Lead in ways that make people follow them?
- Manage in ways that get things done and maximize employee satisfaction?
Who is the mad genius that consistently out performs everyone else? And
does so without breaking a sweat?
Cloning Genius
Once you know who already has the knowledge and skills you seek, then
start to reverse engineer the magic in their method. Ask: Can I interview
you about the lessons learned from what you've done? Then ask:
- What is their metaphor about what they do and how they do it? One
comedian I modeled stitched together a "quilt" of comedy bits
for each show she did.
- What do they value? The most productive people I've modeled value
getting things done and moving projects forward, even if they only move
a little bit every day. They value the wise use of time and hate wasting
time.
- What do they believe? These people also believe that a working prototype
developed quickly today beats a perfect solution developed weeks or
months from now.
- What are their capabilities? These people can communicate their ideas
in written as well as spoken format, visually as well as orally. They
can see the big picture and grind out the detail. They can hold onto
their vision and problem solve their way to it.
- What are their strategies? Productive people focus their passion on
priority activities. They naturally fit chunks of the overall task into
whatever time is available. People who can do things well use elegant
strategies to get them done. Strategies are like little modules of mind
code that effortlessly resolve even the most difficult problems.
Unfortunately, the people with these genius skills have no idea how they
do them. You have to observe them and listen to them talk about their work
over time to detect the patterns they use. While you'll never learn everything
they know, you can discover the few key values, beliefs, capabilities and
strategies that they use that deliver most of the results. Then develop
experiential training and templates to transfer those skills to other people.
Knowledge Transfer
Most people don't need or want a class. They want an example, a case study
or a template that they can use as a model for solving their immediate
problem. Most people don't want a four week Six Sigma Black Belt class;
they want an immediate way to apply the key tools of Six Sigma to their
issue right now. Many types of knowledge transfer can be handled in this
way. That's why our QI Macros product has over 60 templates that embody
the knowledge and expertise required for Six Sigma. A fill-in-the-blanks
template beats a sheet of blank paper any day.
Sometimes the only way to transfer the knowledge is with a class. The
key is that learners learn by doing, not by being taught.
That's why when I teach a Six Sigma class in one day I prefer to do it
in a computer lab where everyone has the QI Macros and everyone has data
from the organization that reflects the type of problems they deal with.
In one school district, we analyzed problems that ranged from bullying
and fighting to drug sales and murder. In a hospital we work on data about
patient falls, medication errors, c-section rates, and mortality rates.
In a printing company we focused on jobs that had to go back to the presses.
In a highway facility, we focused on toll collection issues.
In his book, Lessons in Learning, E-learning, and Training, Roger
Schank asks: Why do we persist in doing things [training] we know don't
work? I'll tell you why, because a week-long training class pays more
than a one day training class. Its supplier driven, not customer driven.
Here's My Point
Capture your employee's wisdom in templates that embody the skills and
knowledge of the genius employees. Transfer the knowledge through experiential
learning that applies directly to their job. If you don't know how to
capture those genius insights, hire someone who does.
Cedric Coco, senior director of engineering excellence for Microsoft
says: If you're going to spend millions of dollars on KM, spend the millions
to develop content, not the fancy system.
Start to capture the wisdom that walks out the door every night and share
it with everyone. You'll be glad you did.
© 2008 Jay Arthur, the KnowWare® Man, works with companies who want
to plug the leaks in their cash flow and people who want to master the mysteries
of the mind..
To have Jay Arthur to train your staff, contact
Jay at (888) 468-1537, lifestar@rmi.net. 
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