Nick Milton

Implementing Knowledge Management requires two parallel strategies, like the two prongs of a fork. There was a very interesting article by Ron Bascue in the 2011 Fall edition of the US Army KM newsletter (now no […]

One of my Knoco colleagues was in a KM workshop a while ago with a client, and raised the issue of the KM Budget. One of the people in the room said “What? Does Knowledge Management need a budget?” Budget, by […]

Many people prefer to use the term “Knowledge Sharing” instead of “Knowledge Management”. However as a synonym “Knowledge Sharing” is inadequate and misleading. I know lots of people prefer the term Knowledge […]

There have been many articles and blog posts (including here) listing “Top Success Factors for Communities of Practice”. Usually these are based on a combination of experience and theory. Here’s a different […]

We all know about the traditional lifecycle of Wikis. They start with a blaze of publicity, attract a dozen or so pages, then activity fades inexorably away. It doesn’t have to be like this! Try starting with a […]

When we have a lot of knowledge, we underestimate how hard it is to communicate this to people who don’t know.  This is called the “Curse of Knowledge” – a cognitive bias that leads to people trying to convey […]

Innovation should be focused on problems first, ideas second, and should follow a structured process. Here’s an example from the mining sectorImage of the De Beers AUV from Sonardyne.comA few years ago, my then c […]

From the AFAC lesson management forum last week, this video below from David Oberhettinger, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, talking about lesson learning in their human and robotic space exploration program David makes […]

I blogged last week about the importance of knowing the value KM will deliver. But how do you do this?Big Prize, by Alberto G on FlickrAs I said in last week’s post; if you understand the value that Knowledge […]

Collaboration adds simplicity in a complicated world. Simplifying through collaboration is the topic of a Ted talk by Yves Morieux, embedded below, in which he gives us 6 rules to simplify work. Watch the talk to […]

Why is it important to understand the business value of Knowledge Management? The answer is a simple one – if you understand the value, you understand how much you can justify investing.Image […]

I started Knoco, my KM consulting business, in the summer of 1999. Here are some of the things I have learned in the past 20 years.Image by Sam Churchill on Flickr under CC licenceI received a request for some of […]

A recent article by Steve Denning throws light on the only KM metric that counts;  Impact.Image from wikimedia commonsThe article in Forbes, entitled “Why Agile Often Fails: No Agreed Metrics”, discusses the […]

Projects require their own KM Framework. Here’s one view of what this might look like. Image from science.dodlive.mil”Knowledge Management for Teams and Projects” contains a bullet-point summary of how Knowledge […]

Another post from the archives on dealing with the “unknown knowns” in Knowledge Management.We hear a lot (famously from Donald Rumsfeld) about the unknown unknowns, and how difficult they are to deal with, and in […]

The knower/learner spectrum is one of the key dimensions of KM culture, and one that all knowledge managers should understand.Image by muffinn on FlickrKnowers and Learners are two archetypes within Knowledge […]

I blogged yesterday about groupthink. Would you like to see this in action?The video below is a startling example of how people will agree with a group even when they know the answer is wrong. This is known as […]

KM is beset by cognitive biases such as Groupthink. Maybe the Devil’s Advocate role is needed to help combat this?Groupthink by Oscar Berg on FlickrThe biggest impediments to learning in an organisation are mental […]

What makes KM unique? This post from the archives attempts to explain.Image by dayeonge from PixabayAny management discipline needs to have a defined unique area of scope if it is to add value. It needs to be […]

The most valuable skill for the Knowledge Management professional is the skill of facilitation. This is one of the first skills a new KM team must learn. Photo by Nicholas Wang on FlickrKnowledge is created and […]