Innovation SIG Announcement: New Roundtable Event: Innovation SIG , 26 Jun 2014

Innovation and leading change is critical to organisational growth, or even survival. Markets and technologies are changing rapidly; what served us well even 5 years ago may be becoming irrelevant. Knowledge work has never been more critical in facilitating diversity of thinking.  As Facilitator for the Innovation Special Interest Group, I have been working with Jon Harman of Syngenta to update the KIN Innovation Maturity Model. As you will know from the other KIN Maturity Models, this is useful for both benchmarking against other organisations and as a gap-analysis tool. The intention is to use this to highlight and share new insights in KIN member organisations' innovation practice and impact. We propose this approach…  1. Identify who in your organisation would both benefit from and contribute to this KIN innovation initiative. These may range from dedicated R&D functions or ‘ideation’ teams, particularly innovative individuals or anyone with a passion for creative problem solving.  2. Meet for an Innovation Roundtable, to review and agree the new draft innovation model (we have a draft to work with). We would also discuss the best level of ‘granularity’ to apply the model - too high level will mask pockets of excellence, too low will provide too much data. Those outside the UK are welcome to participate even if you cannot be present at the Roundtable.  3. Collect the data from your organisation and produce the innovation practice gap analysis. We will use the KIN online Maturity Model tool to do this.  4. Use what we learn to identify high performing innovators and those with a desire to improve. This may result in peer-to-peer learning, sharing of specific good practice, site-visits or events specifically tailored to bridge the competency gaps, including those outside the KIN network. Full details can be found on this event page: Roundtable: Innovation SIG

ET SIG Announcement: New Roundtable Event: Document Management Strategies, approaches and tools, 03 Jun 2014

In some way shape or form, KIN member organisations have to manage their documents. Some organisations are required to use auditable Document Management systems. Some utilise the document management capabilities of Sharepoint while others have implemented systems such as Documentum. This Roundtable will give KIN members the opportunity to share and discuss the approaches they have taken and the tools they are using in their organisations. This Roundtable is aimed at KIN members who are using a document management system (or systems) and are willing to share their experiences and learn from other members' approaches. It is also appropriate for members who are about to embark on the implementation of such a system to learn from the experiences of those who have already been down that path. So if you use Documentum, Sharepoint or some other document management system, please come and share your experience. (Please indicate what system(s) you currently use in the self registration form) Full details can be found on this event page: Roundtable: Document Management Strategies, approaches and tools'

Post card from Washington

I was recently in Washington DC, working with the World Bank, who are KIN members.
Whilst I could share a snapshot of the White House, I wanted to share a few photos taken in the World Bank's 'Forum 2014' war room.

For one hectic and action-packed week in February, a crack team of knowledge and collaboration experts facilitated a cross-organisation knowledge-fest branded as World Bank 'Forum 2014'. Masterminded and led by Monika Weber-Fahr, this was a hugely ambitious programme of varied and innovative techniques designed to:

• Showcase practice specific knowledge to areas and people who might not normally see it 
• Introduce knowledge-sharing and collaboration techniques to a wide audience

The photo below shows the list of 'Formats' developed and the post-event learning Post-Its. The planning and delivery was meticulous and impressive.

You will see a number of familiar techniques, for example 'Masterclasses', but what this does not show is the innovative forms in which these were delivered. For example, 'experts' delivering Masterclasses were coached in the Socratic method of drawing ideas from a carefully selected group of participants, rather than just impart their expertise or views straight off. Another novelty was the rigidly enforced 'no PowerPoint' rule; all sorts of visual aids and story telling props were encouraged.

Another event format that was really successful was the 'Genius Bar'. As a result, he Genius label seems to have acquired a real cachet for some individuals. 

The 'Wikithon' format was hugely popular and like several of the other techniques being tried, will be taken forward. The Wikithon may become the Wiki-on.

The World Bank have been invited to share their great Forum 2014 story with the other KIN Members at our Summer Workshop on 11th June. This will be our 'Member Showcase' event, where 4 organisations will share in-depth case studies and other members will be provided with other ways of 'showcasing'. 

If your organisation is not a member of KIN and you think you could both contribute to and benefit from participation, talk to us with a view to coming along to share and hear about the World Bank Forum 2014 and other member innovations. 

What's in a name

I often advocate the inclusion of real names when producing 'knowledge assets' resulting from Knowledge Elicitation discussions. Used with permission and sparingly, verbatim quotes his add veracity and a personal connection to the story. Anecdote have written a very useful blog called 'Whodunnit' and added some sage advice about real names are and are not (for example negative experiences) . The caution about libel is also worth bearing in mind.
A highly recommended quick read for anyone involved in storytelling or producing written knowledge assets.

 Photo credit: ell brown