Trove KM

The 3rd European KM Thought Leaders Forum was held in London on 19- 20 September, 2007

The main things I took away from the event were:

1. We are on the right track
   I was waiting (hoping?) for a “eureka moment” where everything would make sense and be explained to me. This didn’t happen. Rather, everything I heard was known to me and we are either doing it, decided against it or plan to do it in the future.
2. I am not “alone”
   It was good to see and meet other people in this new field.
3. The KM programs have been going a long time (5-10 years)
   This has implications for how much I can reasonably expect achieve in the next year.

The case studies ranged from knowledge management, to information management, to the artistic, to the spiritual. None of them were an exact copy of my organisation’s experience. For my money, Cheryl Cooper‘s talk (former KM Director) for the British Council had the most relevance and was the most experienced and best speaker there.

Like me, everyone seemed to have more questions than answers. I found the quality and relevance of some of the talks lacking. Some were a bit “new age-y” and while it worked for me and got the point across, it probably would not be appropriate for the more corporate-y organisation I work for (though, then again, you never know…)

I would have liked to have seen more instructional emphasis and less narrative. I would have like to have heard from speakers in allied disciplines such as organizational design, communications, change management, business administrators (MBA’s). These are some of the skillsets needed to implement a KM program. The technology side of the equation is well documented and was well represented. More workshop, less talking-shop.

Bottom line:

This event allowed me benchmark where I am and where my organisation is in its KM program.

Not sure I’d attend again though.