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What’s the likelihood that KM solutions “stick” without a KM leadership team? Pretty slim. When you take the time to develop leaders who understand the value of knowledge management and are empowered to be creative and try new ways to solve tough organizational challenges, you create a culture of knowledge sharing, team collaboration, and personal and professional growth.

As I’ve often asserted, one of the major reasons KM efforts fail is the lack of early, frequent, and consistent involvement from end users. We also continue to see organizations struggle with early KM strategy and decision-making, failing to get the buy-in necessary for a true KM transformation. This isn’t just about building users into the design effort. Beyond that, it’s about engaging them in the initial discussions regarding wants and needs and what’s working and what’s not, within the focused context of Knowledge and Information Management.

As a small and growing knowledge management team, we are always looking for ways to engage our people. The FIFA World Cup 2018 presented a perfect opportunity for our us to create an internal campaign at our company, Moorhouse Consulting, modelled on the World Cup. It’s not hard to get swept up in the competitive spirit of the World Cup - even if you’re not a die-hard football fan. This enthusiasm was the wave we wanted to surf.

Our aim was to get people to share knowledge and understand the processes and benefits of knowledge management.

In my career as a KM Consultant, I’ve often worked with organizations who have previously experienced failed KM initiatives and want to avoid repeating past mistakes. I’ve worked with an array of organizations spanning industries, size, and geography, yet the tales of Knowledge Management woe I encounter tend to be quite similar.

In a recent post on Lucidea.com, well-known KM expert, Stan Garfield shared his tips for "Seeking Outside Help" in selling KM to others within your organization.  We at KMI have found that this is a common issue faced by knowledge managers, and hope you find Stan's advice useful. . .   

You don’t have to go it alone to sell KM to others in your organization. Take advantage of outside help by scheduling visits with others who are doing KM well, joining and participating in KM communities, using industry analyst reports, or using an outside consultant.

As knowledge management professionals, it’s clear to you and me why we should invest in knowledge management initiatives. However, not everyone shares this understanding, especially at the executive level, so what can you do to gain buy-in from senior leaders along with the resources and support you need to be successful?

Can KM be your "Superpower"?  Vanessa DiMauro of Leader Networks thinks so!  She shares a few tips for boosting your career in her recent blog post, which we are passing along to you today.

"Why KM Is Your Superpower"

In my experience I’ve found that any successful taxonomy design effort stems from a strong understanding of the end users’ needs – hardly a small task. One way that I’ve worked to address this challenge is by incorporating Design Thinking into our taxonomy design process.

"If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together."  -- African Proverb

Do conversations need to improve?

As I’ve often asserted, Knowledge Management struggles with its own identity. There are any number of definitions of KM, many of which put too much stress on the tacit knowledge side of the knowledge and information management spectrum, are overly academic, or are simply too abstract. At Enterprise Knowledge, we’ve adopted a concise definition of knowledge management:

Knowledge Management involves the people, process, culture, and enabling technologies necessary to Capture, Manage, Share, and Find information.