On the four rings of enterprise social tools

This a short post to alert people to an interesting item from Thomas Venderwal on enterprise social tools.
One of the difficulties of applying social tools in the organisation relates to how well they mesh together. Vanderwal illustrates the issue with his four rings of enterprise social tools: the tools themselves, interface and ease of use, sociality, and encouraging [...]

On the ties that don’t bind

This article from the Australian Financial Review(subscription required) discusses a recent book by human resource management academic, Lynda Gratton, on the power of weak ties in the network. Having read Gratton’s Living strategy, I was intrigued to learn more about the new book, Hot spots, albeit written for a more mass market audience.
Weak ties are people who [...]

On conversations

Well, my first day in my new job at the Fred Hollows Foundation was really very good. The travel time to work was better than I expected (so that was a great start!) and I met some wonderful and committed people. The feature of the day was conversation - the largely informal conversations with people [...]

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 participation

I was listening to the radio this week when I heard an interview with a film producer on triple j. Of special note was the comment by the female dj that perhaps casting for movies should be done the same way as decisions are made in those reality tv shows. Just sms your vote! The film producer was [...]

On business and social computing

This blog post pretty much sums up the benefits of social computing for business - couldn’t agree more!

On showing some interest in KM

The Reserve Bank of Australia announced an increase in interest rates this afternoon. Interest rates will rise by another .25% and the expectation is that another increase is likely in the near term.
Since interest rates are supposed to reflect the cost of capital, it is not surprising that high interest rates impact on the bottom [...]

On HR and knowledge management

One of my favourite podcast sites is HBR IdeaCast. And one of my favourite podcasts that I have listened to recently is called The new science of human capital, IdeaCast No. 76. The podcast is an interview with one of the authors of the book Beyond HR. The gist of the podcast concerns talent management within organisations. [...]

On three ways of working

I am reading Gerard Fairtlough’s book, The three ways of getting things done.
The book examines three forms of workplace environment:
1) Hierarchy - the traditional organisational form of power relations in which there is a distinct progression of roles and powers from top to bottom. Hierarchies are usually inflexible, discourage learning and communication, and inhibit change. [...]

On five common mistakes in innovation

I want to share five common mistakes in innovation that were recently presented in an article in BusinessWeek. It seems to me that they are just as applicable in the context of developing initiatives for knowledge management inside the firm, and knowledge diffusion between organisations.
1) An over-reliance on pilot initiatives - pilots tend to focus [...]

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 personas

Mark Hurst has been keeping my mind busy with his regular newsletters from Good Experience. I really enjoy Mark’s passion for wanting to maximise the customer experience, something we should all adhere to in our communication and KM practices.
However, I wonder what Patrick Lambe and Arthur Shelley would make of this post on personas: Although referring [...]

On knowledge management’s crisis of confidence

I read a lot of blogs on knowledge management. I also read articles and I try to read books (although I am doing so at a much slower rate these days). I attend knowledge management conferences and discuss issues with attendees. I talk knowledge management at forums and with friends and colleagues.
What I find is that [...]

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 marketing and advertising

From time to time I like to look at what is happening in the marketing and advertising space with respect to the web and traditional advertising mediums.  Advertising and marketing are important communication channels. I have made some comments previously (you can use my Marketing category to find them if you’re interested). The key point has [...]