A week or so ago a friend sent me this article on the Play Ethic. Pat Kane is advocating that after two centuries of domination by the work ethic, the play ethic has arrived.
I’m recommending that everybody takes a close look at The Play Ethic. It describes a way out of the malady that is striking at the heart of business today.
Alan Silcock and I have been playing for several months now. Isn’t it great when you have a name to put to something that you’ve been sensing and living for a while.
Browsing Posts published by David C. Buchan
This morning on tv, I saw an article about the Yolngu People of North East Arnhem Land. They have a regular gathering called the Garma Festival which provides them a place to share knowledge and culture.
Yolngu culture in north-east Arnhem Land ? a heartland of Aboriginal culture and land rights ? is among the oldest living cultures on earth, stretching back more than 40,000 years.The Garma Festival is a celebration of the Yolngu cultural inheritance. The Garma ceremony is aimed at sharing knowledge and culture, and opening people?s hearts to the message of the land at Gulkula. The site at Gulkula has profound meaning for Yolngu. Set in a stringybark forest with views to the Gulf of Carpentaria, Gulkula is where the ancestor Ganbulabula brought the Yidaki (didjeridu) into being among the Gumatj people. The festival is designed to encourage the practice, preservation and maintenance of traditional dance (bunggul), song (manikay), art and ceremony on Yolngu lands in North East Arnhem Land.It is an important reminder that knowledge is not just about business but delves deeper into who we are and also where we have come from. All of the indigenous tribes of the world are recognised for their story telling and connective ability – something the business world had lost under a mire of technology and process but is now starting to find again.The festival is an important step in the establishment of the Garma Cultural Studies Institute, to be built on the site at Gulkula by 2003.
In my search for a beginner Tai Chi class, I came across this poem.
“Remember, when moving, There is no place that doesn’t move.The last line resonates with me at this point in life. There is peace in the first 3 stanzas – a stillness and acceptance of things as they really are rather than what others in the world attempt to force us to see. Moving first, as per the last line, says to me something of taking control and responsibility for your own actions. Yet it also speaks of independence. You move a little (perhaps even showing me a way forward) and I’ll move because I need and want to, not because you moved. I don’t know the original source, however I found it in the newsletter of Celestial Tai Chi of Australia.When still, There is no place that isn’t still.
First seek extension, then contraction; Then it can be fine and subtle.
It is said “if others don’t move, I don’t move.
If others move slightly, I move first.”
As a PostNuke user for quite some time I hadn’t realised that I was dealing with blogs. It wasn’t until I saw this article by David Gurteen that I began to get a clue as to what a blog was. Hint: You’re reading one now. David’s enthusiasm for blogging pushed me to read further.
Following links from David’s site I was soon reading up and understanding why blogging seemed such a natural way of sharing information over the web. Two of the most formative articles were The Tipping Blog and Tell Someone Who Cares.
David has also commented on how he’s noticed a difference in certain types of logs. So much so that he’s found references to the term K-Log to deal with knowledge management blogging. thought?horizon and others are part of a K-Log Community (see list at left as well) who predominantly post K-Logs instead of regular blogs).
For me K-Logs are part of my personal knowledge management strategy. In addition to the benefits of sharing knowledge with others via the web, the discipline of writing regular Klogs serves to keep me thinking and learning from what I observe each day. They are also as good a place as any to “capture” some knowledge.
We’re back from a very successful 3 days at KM Conference 2002 in Sydney.
The key points for me were:
- stronger focus on culture and community
- new and useful terms such as mediate, flow and hijack
- less corporate, more personal care
Introduction
The Knowledge Management 2002 Conference was held in Sydney, Australia over August 7-9. I attended with Alan Silcock and approximately 100 other delegates over the three days to hear some great speakers and new ideas in the field of knowledge management.Speakers
The conference attracted some high quality speakers from both the public and military sectors. Each clearly had a real grasp of knowledge management and its implications in an organisation. Although little was said about the value of knowledge management, there was a lot on the practice of integration into a firm. Some of the specific ideas that caught my hearing were:- Culture is not simply business or organisation culture, but country, demographic and historical as well. Prof. Bill Ford raised this. He had recognised that culture is one of the strongest inhibitors of knowledge management. It was also great to hear how building design can have an effect, forcing people into knowledge sharing situations, especially from the designer of the building we were in (Dockside on Cockle Bay, Sydney).
- The concept of migitated flow between knowledge workers. At Thought Horizon we believe knowledge is what you know and is tempered by your experiences. Therefore, it is impossible to transfer or share knowledge. Dr Robert Neilsen’s ideas of a mitigated flow, help to explain how this might be facilitated.
- Templates are not the answer. Dr Maris O’Rourke spoke of her experience with the World Bank and how the good work she had completed as Director of Education fitted her team well, but did not translate as a template to the organisation as a whole. Nor should it, but people will try so be on the lookout.
- Is there a digital divide? According to Senator Kate Lundy there certainly is. Yet we had heard discussion earlier in the day about how technology accounts for just 10% of any knowledge management solution. This was backed my the day’s discussion on matters other than technology. In a chat afterwards I asked the question on how do we bridge knowledge in a community, irrespective of technology. As yet there is no answer but something for us all to work upon.
- After the technology goes in, is it still the same? David Wennegren joined us from the US Navy via phone linkup to share some of there stories on implementing knowledge management.
- Just do it. Les Pickett suggested the Nike approach to knowledge management. Do it and do it fast, otherwise the world will have moved on by.
- Communities of Practice are important. We all knew this, but William Bennet of the FERC in the US has done it successfully across industry.
- Tie KM to the Business Plan. Seemingly simple advice from Marie O’Brien and Thomas Cosgrove but who does it? We all need to, especially when face with the Year 2 question of “So what did you do?”
- “I think Knowledge Management is a dead-end“. Bravest speaker award goes to Patrick Callioni and his comments on knowledge management. I agree with him. At one level it is all about being human again.
My Reflections
The conference was a great place for me to test and validate my learnings on knowledge management. It was interesting to see the different approaches from delegates reflecting where they are in the knowledge management journey, for a journey it is. Knowledge Management roles lead to an understanding of knowledge and then of learning. Patrick Callioni’s comments at the end of the conference reflected this journey. For me, knowledge management is about individual learning, that is, learning how to be the best we can. And not in just the corporate world either. As I discussed in the Open Space session, “Why not a knowledge-centric life?”. I left the conference with a strong sense that knowledge management is not about knowledge or the management thereof. It is about giving at a level where you truly care for the other person. Share without prejudice and learn from one another
There is something quite liberating about living in the moment. A few days ago I was in dialog with Peter Fenner. He was explaining how it is possible to frame conversations so that we forget about both the future and the past, instead living in the moment. At such a point, our anxieties about the future disappear. If we have everything we need right now, what is there in the future to worry about.
A related point discussed how in that moment we have all the resources we need to survive. Logically it can be no other way. Otherwise we would not be surviving in that moment. Statements such as “I can’t cope” for you are proving otherwise simply by your existence. Perhaps the meaning is “I don’t believe I can cope in my imagined future”. But in the moment, the future is only imagined and you don’t know if you will cope or not. Your have so far – history suggests you will continue.
It’s your reality. There’s nothing you can do about it. Natalie Imbruglia, Track: Don’t You Think? Album: Left of the MiddleI’m a new parent I recall being skeptical about the future that awaited me. It was not in my experience, my knowledge, to comprehend the changes that were on the way. I was a little anxious about all that I had to learn. Now, as a father I’ve coped as has my wife. Yes, it has been difficult. Late nights, crying without reason and some fun-and-games with work as well but we coped. At the time we had the resources we needed. It was not possible to define them beforehand but they were there and I take great comfort going forward knowing that. As a point of learning I believe many companies could well do to think more in the moment than the future, especially with regards to Knowledge Management. Present Knowledge Management pushes strongly the capture of knowledge and storage against future needes. We fail to recognise and use the knowledge that we have now, for the moment. Once you begin to understand just how powerful we all are with our history and knowledge, it is a world of wonder indeed.
Coaching In Action
I walked to the middle of the circle holding my name tag in my hands. Turning around to face the other course participants I held up my name tag and declared in a voice from the centre of my being, “This is my name tag but this is me and I am legitimate!” It was late Sunday afternoon and I had just completed Newfield Institute’s Coaching in Action program. A full-on three days of learning about the ontology of being. Language, emotion and body. My exposure to this field began in Feburary when I met Alan Silcock, my now business partner and one of the contributors to this site. He had a way about him that was different to anything I’d ever seen in the business world. A grounding and sureness of purpose that was easy to work with. I subsequently learned that Al was a practitioner of Ontological Coaching. This gives him a way to understand himself through the continual self-observation of his actions against an understanding of the language he uses, the emotions and moods that he feels and the body that he lives in. It wasn’t long before words and phrases like “listening”, “preciseness of language”, “request” and “ungrounded assessment” were part of my daily life as well. But to learn more, I attended Coaching in Action. Coaching is a field slowly coming to prominence. It deals with who we are and how we can learn to change ourselves. It isn’t mentoring, psychology or training. Rather, a coach uses their understanding of language, emotion and body to help a coachee achieve “breakdowns” and see a different view of the world. Our world is how we observe it and by changing that observation we can significantly change our world. For example, we often live in the assessments of others. That means our belief in what others think of us is so strong that it effects our behaviour and can often cause suffering. However, many of these assessments are “ungrounded”, that is, we believe them without validity. Understanding they are in play makes it possible to eliminate the effect and so being living the way we want to and not how we think others want us to.Basic Linguistic Acts
The ontological approach to coaching sees Language as one of the three key spheres of influence upon who we are and how we act. It identifies a set of Basic Linguistic Acts that we can incorporate into our conversations. I tend to think of them as “power words and phrases”. You can pick someone who has had training in the field because their language is populated with words such as “request”, “declaration”, “assessment” and “distinction”. Use of these words has two effects. Firstly, they are strong in defintion and so therefore create an incredibly efficient way of speaking backed by a preciseness in meaning which eliminates much of the time wasted in clarification. Secondly, they have an effect on the world and can change your observation thereof. During the weekend I was able to use my language to change my view of the world several times and free myself from situations that we causing me great discomfort and anxiety.Emotions and Moods
“Does the mood I’m in serve me at the moment?” This seemingly simple question asked within the ontological framework can quickly open up new possibilities for action. We can often be unaware of the mood we are in and the effect it has. The course showed me some of the most common moods and how they become evident in my language, actions and body. This is important because now that I can recognise the mood I am in, I can choose to move to another mood simply by changing my language and body. Imagine how powerful it is to move from a mood of resignation to one of ambition simply by changing your language in a heartbeat.Body
On Sunday morning the group was into a debrief of the previous day’s learnings. I made comment on a point and was invited by Alan Sieler to explore an issue in front of the group. As I discussed my concern, there was a breaking hesitancy in my voice and I was actually rocking back on my feet. My body was exhibiting my emotion stronger than my words could. We experimented in changing my world by changing the way I held myself. It was difficult to get into the right body for what I wanted to achieve. Eventually I managed it and the result was powerful indeed.Summary
Coaching in Action is three days of learning and self-discovery in a beautifully facilitated environment. It isn’t mystical or new-age, but rather a well thought out and consistent approach to learning. It was a pleasure working with a new way of being and to have shared it with such a group of people.Introduction
This article is a work in progress. The tools that I use on my Palm change as my needs change. Consequently there will be both additions and retirements from the list below. I will also be posting articles on how to best use some of the tools below and will create the relevant links from here as appropriate.
My brain can hold a lot of things but it’s not always the best at recalling or organising them. For support I use a Palm Pilot as my personal digital assistant (PDA). It is a key component of personal knowledge management. Below I will share how and why I find a Palm so useful. If you are a Pocket PC fan (or other such piece of hardware), don’t despair. There will be something here for you as well.
I use my Palm for keeping organised
PDAs were originally glorified diaries. They added the ability to change information without crossing it out and search functions. Everything that has come after is could be said to be pretty much the same – only the interface is easier.I rely heavily on my Palm’s datebook, to-do and address functions for when I’m out of the office or without my note book. It stores much more information than I can possibly hold in my head and I can make changes without resorting to lots of bits of paper. More recently I have come to rely even more heavily on ShadowPlan as it lends itself to David Allen’s Getting Things Done method.
DateBk5 from Pimlico Software – DateBk is a replacement for the built-in Palm datebook application. It extends the base application with a number of features. I find the categorising, icons and quick setting of a new day or time the most useful. I have only just begun using views. It dds many more useful features to the built-in datebook application such as categorised dates, icon and integrated to-do/memo/address lists. Read the manual to make the most use of the features available, otherwise you may as well stick with the built-in application.
PocketMirror Professional from Chapura – PocketMirror is a replacement conduit with great flexibility. It supports most of Outlooks functions including categories and folders to categories. PocketMirror Provides strong synchronisation between DateBk5 and Microsoft Outlook, making use of the best features of each although it takes some playing around to get the way of working that suits you best but well worth it when you do. Back up your data in case you hit a config that doesn’t work. You shouldn’t lose data but you don’t want to change 500 address entries in your address book do you?.
KeyContacts from Chapura – Replacement for the built-in address book. Supports multiple categories per address, all of Outlook’s fields and has a great lookup feature. Enter ‘brian’ and you will get all people whose name begins with Brian or who have Brian as a surname. A downside is that KeyContacts uses a non-standard database so those applications which link to the built-in address book can’t link to this.
ShadowPlan from codejedi – ShadowPlan is an outliner that is best trialled to be understood. With it you can create multiple checklists in order to help manage your life. However, it also can be used to send links to your datebook (or DateBk5) as needed. There are strong filtering and highlighting capabilities as well. The desktop application offers only about 30% of the functionality of the palm component. Read the shadow tips file that comes with the distribution. And of course, the manual as well.
I use my Palm for Mind Mapping
I carry my most important mind maps with me for quick reference or minor updates. Mind Maps are recognised as a very compact way of storing a lot of knowledge and I have several that I rely upon. Having them close by on my Palm is easier than carrying paper or my notebook around. I don’t have all of the flexibility but then I don’t need it. The intent is to remind myself of an idea – not do develop it. However, I often tweak maps with new ideas as they come to mind.MindManager Mobile from Mindjet – Good for quick changes. Synchronisation requires MindManager Business Edition on the PC. Once below first level, devolves to a tree structure and so the “mind map” element is lost. Synchronisation takes a long time compared to other applications. Maps created on the Palm are stored in your “My Documents” directory. You have to move and then re-add them using the organiser if you want to store in a different location.
I use my Palm for reading books
Every know and then you come across a written reference that you want to keep with you but carrying around a pile of books all the time looks a bit nerdy (yes, well all agree that Palm Pilots and the like are the height of coolness). Depending on the form of the source you might be able to transfer it to your Palm Pilot.Right now I only have the first draft of my brother’s novel on my Palm but in the past I’ve had reference documents on eBusiness and even a novel or two for the train. I am also reading Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War”
iSilo (offline web browser) – Able to transfer websites to your Palm and stays very true to form but there is no abilty to schedule updates
plucker (offline web browser) – Able to transfer websites on a scheduled basis to your palm but doesn’t get all the formatting right.
PalmReader from Palm Digital Press – Simple interface great for text only documents. Turn the display sideways as it makes holding the Palm and reading one handed a lot easier.
Acrobat Reader for Palm OS from Adobe – Takes pdf files and stores them on the Palm. Handles graphics well but not perfectly. To be fair, this is a limitation of the Palm and not the reader. Stick to the simpler formatted pdf files if possible. Something with heavy graphics won’t work well (and it will take a lot of space as well).
I use my Palm for keeping notes
Just had a good idea? Write it down.MemoPad, built-in note application – Simple to use. Organisation is by category only with no hierarchy. Notes are limited to 4K in size. You would never create one so big on the Palm but sometimes you want to store notes from a note book which may be bigger.
I use my Palm for secret squirrel activities
How many accounts and passwords do you have. At a quick count I’m around the 100 mark and I can’t remember them all, nor can I trust to write them down. I use an application called Secret! and it’s companion Secret! Desktop to manage all my account and password details. The advantage is they are stored in an MD5 encrypted database making them harder to access. It’s a compromise between remembering/forgetting and having to write them somewhere.Secret! from LinkeSoft – Secure storage. Desktop companion software. Long lists of categories can be difficult to navigate. Like all Palm applications (an in fact Knowledge Management in general) think first about how you want to categorise your data.
I use my Palm for …
The Palm is a wonderfully versatile piece of equipment. In addition to the above I also use my Palm for a game or two and astronomy. We can’t do knowledge management all of the time.Other essential pieces of software for your Palm
In addition to the above, all Palm users should considerBackupBuddy from Blue Nomad – This should be the first piece of software you buy after purchasing your Palm. It ensures quick recovery in the event of failure because it makes sure everything is backed up.
JackFlash from Brayder Technologies – squeezes that little extra bit of memory.
Whilst sitting on a beach a CEO was asked “What’s been your greatest lesson as a CEO?”
He replied. “Each morning when I came into work I would see an employee who spent the first 45 minutes of his day reading the newspaper from front to back. After a while I fired him. It was the most expensive knowledge mistake that I have ever made. I didn’t bother to understand what that employee really contributed. Rather I focused on the financial cost of his time reading the paper”.
It is important that when making business decisions we consider the knowledge impact of our actions. Otherwise we leave ourselves open to greater costs further down the track.
A group of farmers was asked what they would do if they woke up in the morning to find their $100,000 tractor had been stolen from the shed. They indicated a rush of activity around police, insurance and other such matters. If all else failed they would seek to buy a new tractor. As soon as possible.
When asked has a senior manager with an equivalent salary recently left the organization – the group said yes. What did they do? Aside form lunch or a brief exit interview the answer was nothing.
We can easily fall into the trap of prizing the tangible resources at our disposal and ignoring the less tangible. It’s easy to replace a tractor so we know what to do – and we jump to it. It is not easy to replace an individual. Sometimes it’s just too hard to do anything – no matter what we’ve lost.
