Many organizations spend a small fortune building their intranets. They’re often based on very detailed specifications and take a long time to implement – so successful rollouts and decent user adoption are causes for celebration. And then, the years roll by …until a once-innovative intranet really starts to show its age. You might be faced with this challenge – but do you know what to do about it?

Recently, one of our clients told us, “I feel Lucidea’s purpose is similar to ours.” But what, really, is our shared purpose? It’s to help people “Think Clearly.”

KM encompasses such a broad range of meanings that everyone has a different definition. It’s rather like an elephant - one person holding onto the trunk says knowledge management is about enhanced document retrieval software; another holding the tail claims it’s a searchable repository for technical support calls. And there’s a lot to cover in between!

Did the taxi industry not see Uber coming? Did GPS manufacturers not perceive the threat from smart phones?

Wow! It’s what we want to hear when users start using any new piece of software. Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen often. That’s all about to change because of two important trends: Experience Design or XD – the practice of focusing on the quality of the user experience, and XD Enabled Software - which empowers non-technical people to create the “wow factor” end users crave. McKinsey’s recent podcast, The Power of Design Thinking, has important observations for anyone implementing new systems.

McKinsey & Company’s recent podcast, How Companies Become Digital Leaders, raised a number of key points that we can all apply to our own careers. Jay Scanlan, head of McKinsey’s Digital Strategy Practice, states in the podcast, “[companies that are] digital leaders massively outperform digital followers and digital laggards.” This applies equally to knowledge management professionals.

A recent Harvard Business Review article entitled The Limits of Empathy got me thinking about why many knowledge managers and information specialists are so great at their jobs – and how being empathetic can hamper their efforts.

So, you don’t tweet. Should you? Research shows that Millennials, who have entry-and mid-level jobs in the companies you and I work in, have different expectations about getting and sharing information. Tweeting, pinning, linking, and “Instagramming” are the new information channels.

The way people engage with information every day is changing. Why is this important? It’s not about what we industry veterans think is the “best way” to find important content - it’s what our end users think that matters.

In Seth Earley’s interesting blog post “What’s in Store for 2016,” he mentions a Frog Design report that lists “Friendship as a Service” as one of the coming technology trends. A less cynical view of the interest in (and benefits of) connectedness with others encompasses our concept of “return on partnership,” which we believe is just as valuable as “return on investment.”

I can’t lose if I begin this post with a quote from Aristotle: “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” I actually do think of this when I consider the impact of integration. With regard to knowledge management applications, KM solutions should not dictate the way people work and how they do things, but rather should dock neatly with existing systems and processes in order to optimize organizational knowledge delivery and exchange.

Originally posted on SydneyPLUS blog 12/16/2014

What actually motivates users of a knowledge management system? It’s the feeling we get at the moment of discovery. Yes, we need the information we are seeking, but it’s the buzz we get when we find it that keeps us searching. And if we get the hit we’re looking for, we’ll come back – guaranteed.

Originally posted on SydneyPLUS blog 5/30/2014

Two information industry veterans walk into a bar. They both walk out. What do you think happened?

Originally posted 3/12/2013 on the SydneyPLUS and Inmagic blogs

“If only HP knew what HP knows, we would be three times more productive.” Lew Platt, CEO, Hewlett-Packard

A KM strategy may not actually achieve 3X productivity, but impact - whether it is measured in profits or even in lives saved - can be dramatic, with amazing results as shown by the examples below:

• A mountain rescue organization proactively communicates warnings of adverse conditions to equipment retailers, guides, the media and individual subscribers. Four novice climbers decide to stay home rather than risk death.
• A professional services firm repurposes prior work and increases their billings by 1% -- resulting in 10% increase in profitability.
• A software company reuses existing intellectual property to enter a new market segment. The lowered development costs result in a triple digit ROI.