On my new job

I start my new full-time job at the Fred Hollows Foundation tomorrow. I will be in charge of the information, knowledge management and education unit of the organisation. I am really looking forward to working back in the NGO sector and in international development. It will also make my involvement in KM4dev and Society for [...]

On breakfast, lunch, and tea

There are a number of ways in which information and knowledge can be disseminated and exchanged, including breakfast, lunchtime or evening meetings. These meetings can be internally or externally based. Organisations, like the Society for Organisational Learning Australia (SOLA) for example, have run morning information sessions for members featuring a special guest speaker. I first heard Dave [...]

On harvesting text

In most organisations there is a plethora of text that is composed, written and sent out. Sometimes the text circulates and sometimes text comes back. We take text for granted because it is so ubiquitous. But in the digital world we can do more with text.
A recent blog post from Nancy White highlighted some techniques for making [...]

On conversation

One of the questions I am often asked is why people in knowledge management are so preoccupied with conversations. Why does conversation need to be facilitated, is another question.
Let me answer with the following points:
1) Sometimes conversations inside organisation need permission since there is still the belief that conversation is just idle chatter. Knowledge managers like [...]

On storytelling and memory

When I was officially studying economics at Sydney University in the early 1980s, I was also unofficially sitting in on psychology lectures and reading texts and articles on perception, brain science and social psychology. I have periodically kept up that interest ever since.
I want to share my discovery some years ago about a technique used [...]

On narrative, sensemaking, and volunteering

I did promise on Saturday that my next blog post would be on narrative, sensemaking, and the volunteering project. However, Doris Lessing did come between posts with an earlier blog post this afternoon.
Looking at my notes from the debrief from the volunteering project on Friday, I took this point from Dave Snowden’s introductory remarks on complexity and sensemaking, and [...]

Blog inside the enterprise

I have come across reluctance by senior management in the past to consider blogs as a suitable communication medium for engaging readers and encouraging dialogue. I have also heard that “it’s all too hard”.
Check out Naomi Wolf’s Amazon.com blog. This is as simple as it gets and all focused around a single theme. And that theme [...]

On ODL

I was at a party last Saturday evening when I struck up a conversation with a chap who worked for a pharmaceutical company in organizational development and learning (ODL).
As he talked about his job, I was struck by the similarities to the work undertaken in the knowledge management arena. We discussed the importance of intellectual capital and innovation. We [...]

On actKM Conference 2007

Yesterday I attended day two of the actKM conference in Canberra. The day was full of thoughtful speakers and enjoyable conversation. The venue was in an unpretentious room located in the lovely grounds of University House at the Australian National University.
David Gurteen opened the morning session with an overview of a range of social networking tools and technologies. David emphasised [...]

On e-learning and effectiveness

My regular dose of Australian Policy Online has alerted me to the 2007 e-learning benchmarking project.
“The 2007 surveys show use of technology in vocational education and training (VET) has quadrupled in three years since the first benchmarking survey in 2005. The 2005 survey revealed 6-8% of VET activity involved technology, which rose to 17% in 2006 [...]

On education 2.0

Education is something we all take for granted in Western countries. It is fundamental to communication and knowledge and individual potential. However, is education as it is now practised in schools, training institutions, and businesses really the best way to operate in the 21st century?
Euan Semple just wrote this nice little comment quoting John Chambers of [...]

On KM Australia 2007 (Part 2)

Dave Snowden was the opening morning keynote speaker at KM Australia 2007 and presented on narrative and sensemaking. He emphasised that one of the problems with management and business strategy was the reliance on past performance and hindsight to predict the future. Hindsight cannot predict the future - the context is different and hindsight selects the [...]

On KM Australia 2007 (Part 1)

Wow. Today was the first day of the KM Australia 2007 conference in Sydney. I was very impressed with some of today’s presentations, although I must say it was sometimes difficult to hear the speakers due to the noise coming from the vendor and catering area next to the stage.
Not surprisingly, Dave Snowden was in fine [...]

On “words are powerful”

Words are a powerful communication tool if we use them wisely. This is another “isn’t this obvious” statement, surely. However, the reality is that people are often sloppy with words and use them in ways that are actually completely unhelpful.
I have almost finished Martha Beck’s book, Finding your own North Star, about finding your own authentic [...]

On translating and the computer

I recently blogged about information and knowledge embedded in other languages. Single language speakers, like most English-speakers, are missing out on the opportunities to communicate and learn from other language content. My personal foreign language skills could be better, having learned German at school and French post-university. That’s one reason why I really appreciate international art and international [...]