{"id":72,"date":"2010-07-30T04:13:57","date_gmt":"2010-07-30T03:13:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/knowledgeetal.wordpress.com\/2012\/07\/30\/kmuk-10-power-of-micro-narratives"},"modified":"2016-10-26T13:26:04","modified_gmt":"2016-10-26T12:26:04","slug":"kmuk-10-power-of-micro-narratives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.knowledgeetal.com\/?p=72","title":{"rendered":"KMUK 10: power of micro narratives"},"content":{"rendered":"
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KMUK 10 was held concurrently with the FIFA World Cup. At that time a lot of debate was going on about the abject performance of the English football team (twas ever thus). Looking back now it was clear old ways of presenting information were becoming stale.<\/div>\n
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If Emile Heskey is the answer, are we asking the right question?<\/div>\n

The depressing performance by the English team at the South African World Cup illustrates the old adage that knowledge out of context is just information. Despite both teams possessing the latest analytical technology, a more astute German team executed their tactical plan perfectly and embarrassed England. And historical contexts are important here; a non-goal scorer remains a non-goal scorer and is therefore unlikely to change the course of a game when coming on as a substitute.<\/p>\n

KMUK 2010<\/strong><\/p>\n

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of chairing the annual 2 day UK knowledge management event (kmuk http:\/\/kcuk.wordpress.com\/<\/a>) held this year in Canary Wharf London. In addition to 120 or so senior practitioners the speakers were drawn from across the globe; an interesting mix of people who\u2019ve done stuff and are moving onto pastures new, those who are prominent advocates, those at the forefront of new thinking and of course Dave Snowden the recipient of a science in km award who fits at least three of the above and can be relied upon to give a provocative address.<\/p>\n

It is a few years (in fact a decade) since Sparknow was a disruptive force at the sister event in Brussels, constructing a garden shed (\u2018scriptorium\u2019 \u2013 a slightly quirky neutral space where delegates could retire to for reflection about the need to cultivate and propagate) among the many software vendors\u2019 exhibits that were the backdrop to the conference. Today such vendors are conspicuous by their absence; perhaps Autonomy\u2019s increasing ownership of the business enterprise search space has forced those that remain in business to explore new horizons?<\/p>\n

I was looking for evidence of a new disruptive force and for signs of life among the km community. Did I find it? There were a couple of global km programmes showcased, Heineken, Sanofi Pasteur being two. The majority focused on specific solutions. People such as Bonnie Cheuk have made a virtue out of the necessity of identifying a business problem and then illustrating how km tools and techniques can help solve it. The example presented demonstrated how to use social media to help develop a new strategy. BAE Systems and Burges Salmon (law firm with big Bristol presence) have used an Autonomy based system to help them provide their internal clients with insights and what they described as best practice.<\/p>\n

A lot of what was presented was illustrations of good professionalism. The absence of solid metrics was bemoaned (as it always is); people who measure tend to rely on surveys.<\/p>\n

lightening bolt: Using stories to present issues<\/strong><\/p>\n

Was there a lightening bolt? If I\u2019m honest the disruptive force \/ lightening bolt would seem to be increased use of narrative and story. The challenge; how to honour the original voice in an environment where sound bites and 24\u00d77 headlines drive the attention span of audiences?<\/p>\n

One presenter (Helen) chose to be bold. She read out three stories and invited the audience to discuss each one. They focused on how a centrally driven change management effort was being received. There was an audible buzz; the delegates had listened and had differing emotions. The language and way of presentation had struck a chord and the delegate\u2019s feedback reflected this:<\/p>\n