Conversational Leadership Discussions

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Everyone talks about Knowledge Management like it’s a standard discipline—document the thing, structure the thing, share the thing. But in practice? It’s all over the place.

Some orgs treat KM like a compliance checkbox.

Others expect it to do culture change, onboarding, automation, and lunch ordering all at once.

So let’s reset.

What’s your version of “good KM”?

What do you actually expect a KM function to do?

Bonus points if your answer includes something weird, painful, or wildly aspirational. We’re not judging.

Not all leadership is loud. Sometimes it’s the way you phrase a question. The joke you crack in a tense meeting. The one sentence that breaks a spiral and resets the room.

A lot of what we call “culture” is just… repeatable tone.

So here’s a question: What conversations have you accidentally led?

Was it a phrase that caught on?

A running joke that shaped how people showed up?

Or something that started in sarcasm but ended up shifting how a team worked?

We talk a lot about strategy and structure.

But sometimes the real change starts when someone says the wrong thing at the right time.

You plan the rollout. Train the team. The process is solid.

But two weeks later, no one’s using it. Or worse—they’re pretending to.

I’ve watched beautifully built KM systems collapse from lack of adoption. Not because the content was wrong, but because the timing was. Or the “why” wasn’t clear. Or the change just… landed cold.

Sometimes a hallway chat works better than a training module.

Sometimes documentation fails because it never had a chance.

So let’s talk real life.

What’s made change stick in your world?

What’s quietly undone it?

(Asking for every KM lead who’s launched a new tool and found out two months later no one clicked past page one.)

We talk a lot about structure, governance, frameworks... but sometimes the best KM solutions don’t look like KM at all.

One time I solved a documentation mess with a quiz. Another time, I used a chatbot to help users avoid the knowledge base entirely.

I’ve seen someone use memes to train agents better than any guide ever could.

So what’s your most creative KM fix? The ones that felt weird but worked.

The ones that made people say “Wait… you did what?”

Bring the hacks, the workarounds, the brilliance dressed in chaos.

Bonus points for unofficial solutions that outperformed the competition or malicious compliance turned into a company win.

You want things labeled and organized, but if the system’s too rigid, people just stop using it. They’ll copy and paste their own versions, start saving outside the tool, or worse… update nothing at all.

I’ve worked on teams with great intent and a terrible folder structure.

We made rules, but no one followed them.

We standardized everything, forgetting to factor in user preference.

Where do you draw the line between structured and flexible?

When is a standard helpful, and when does it just become extra steps?

Most KM systems were built like digital libraries. Static. Indexed. Categorized.

...but that’s not how people learn or share in real life.

The latest shift toward “KM 3.0.” is based in a more interactive sort of knowledge management. Structure unchanged, but searches are enhanced by AI to cater to each user's need. Instead of hunting through folders, you just ask. The response is tailored to your patterns, leading to an intuitive system.

Where can this go wrong? I'd love to hear the "dark side" of this trend.

Relying solely on page views can paint an inaccurate picture of KM effectiveness. It's time to question the metrics we prioritize. Have you encountered situations where traditional metrics didn't reflect the true value of your KM initiatives?

(question inspired by this article on Knowledge Management Metrics to track for business success)

Some argue that labeling knowledge as 'tacit' is a convenient way to avoid documenting it. Is this a valid concern or an oversimplification?

Do you believe the emphasis on tacit knowledge hinders the documentation process in your organization?

If you'd like to know more about Tacit and Explicit knowledge, click this link.

Excited about our next Business Taxonomy & Ontology Certification class!

Join your peers online May 13-14! Earn Certification in this hot topic in just a few days from your home office or work.

Click here for details...

Check out the intro video...

Coming up...

KM & AI Summit, Mar 17-19, Scottsdale, AZ

Save 30%! Use Discount Code: VIPKMI

https://www.kmworld.com/KMAISummit/2025

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Knowledge Summit Dublin, June 23-24

Save 10%! Use Discount Code: KMI

https://www.knowledgesummitdublin.com/

More KM events and discounts loaded in the "KMI News" section soon!

If you seen our AI and KM Series? If not, give it a look!

KMI Instructor Rooven Pakkiri breaks down how AI will affect KM and how Knowledge Managers can benefit from this connection.

Parts 1-3 plus Intro:

https://www.kminstitute.org/km-ai---the-series-by-kmi

Got a question or have a challenge we can help with?

For example: Are you about to start a Knowledge Transfer initiative (or need to) and could use some help? Let us know in this section and one of our SMEs will respond...

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Welcome to the KM & AI section!