DaChispa

I liked this post from Rosabeth Moss Kanter: http://discussionleader.hbsp.com/kanter/2008/11/instant-success-takes-time.html
where she talks about the fact that new ideas/products that burst suddenly on the scene are seldom without preparation. It’s like those ‘before they were famous’ TV programmes where you suddenly realise that the overnight success of an actor actually actually started 20 years earlier. I wonder whether that is what the difference is between one hit wonders and those who have a longer shelf life – preparation and application!

I envy inventors, those who seem to have the great ideas, but I have come to realise that there are all sort of creativity and that most of it comes from sheer hard graft and being open to opportunity. Plugging away at the boring lays the groundwork for inspiration and ensures that your are equipped to take the opportunity when it arises.

Listening to a conversation between some Catholic relatives, the significance of what impact really means became clear. They were talking about the current pope and commenting on how little he seemed to be doing, there was even a temporary halt over his name. It struck me that he might very well be doing a lot, but because he is not visible, he is not seen as effective. Pope John Paul, on the other hand, was talked about in tones of affection and felt to be a very good pope – partly because he travelled a lot and they heard about what he said and did.

Lesson for the success of KM – you have to be seen to be doing something – on the radar. It is no good achieving things if no-one knows about them. That is almost the same as not doing them at all! Obvious, but not always acted on….

I have just realised that I am a stealth KMer because most of my working life I have worked for hierarchical, command and control organisations where anything that breaks down the hierarchy can be perceived as a threat. As knowledge management initiatives often target knowledge silos, that means hitting this type of change head on can be more difficult than going at it sideways. Working in a more networked/flexible organisation ought to mean that you don’t have to be so subtle. If you maintain the stealth approach, it may actually be counter productive as people already ‘get’ km and may feel that you are pussyfooting around and not making real, visible change.

Time to investigate more direct and different approaches for these more adult organisations – trust the organisation – scary but maybe the way to go.