Context first, before the Microsoft 365 reporting lolly-scramble.
A blog by Martin Erasmuson.
How prolonged and ineffective data strategy; poor data culture, and data-debt has led to organisational schizophrenia!, and what we can do about that.
A blog by Martin Erasmuson.
A blog by Martin Erasmuson
As we find ourselves in the thick of the 4th Industrial Revolution with the exponential growth of and demand for information at its core, the current COVID 19 crisis has thrown a spot light on antiquated information infrastructures. We stumble from crisis to crisis with severe consequences that seem obvious in hindsight, before reverting to our old way of thinking. As we step into a deeply uncertain future, is it finally time to admit to that uncertainty and implement a Military Grade Information Infrasructure that can respond to continuous change?
A blog by Martin Erasmuson.
What is a Knowledge Management System? Or more precisely, what is a Knowledge Management System today? Many folk in the KM game can likely recall being part of ancient (20th Century) KM initiatives that might have included: an electronic document & records management system (EDRMS), Knowledge-Base, content management system (CMS) and possibly hard copy records management (RM) to name a few. Notably, back in the day, these were invariably on-premise systems and likely not integrated. Even pre-2000, establishing the ROI of such systems was difficult but at least the on-premise costs and over-heads were relatively straightforward.
So back to the question: ‘What constitutes a Knowledge Management System today’? And assuming it is possible to answer that question, ‘How would you go about establishing the ROI of such a system’?
A blog by Martin Erasmuson.
The emerging 4th Industrial Revolution comprises cyber-physical systems, the Internet of Things, the Internet of Systems with omnipresent and constantly evolving information. Before the turn of the 20th century it was possible and practical for a company or industry to capture the information to know what they needed to know to be successful. In 2013 human knowledge was doubling about every 13 months (11). But with the emerging 4th Industrial Revolution, that rate will increase exponentially. IBM theorizes it could someday double every 12 hours! We are already seeing the symptoms; undifferentiated problems present themselves with disagreement and uncertainty about how to proceed. How to handle that? More on premise or cloud-based storage? Faster internet? More training? By the time an organization runs its traditional linear approach, the situation has changed and there are new challenges.
Is there a way of measuring someone’s talent for innovation?
In my previous post; ‘Your survival may rely on your ignorance’, I discussed Liz Wiseman’s great book: ‘Rookie Smarts’ where she proposes that in the emerging knowledge economy, new-comers; or ‘Rookies’, perform far better than their ‘expert’ colleagues. Wiseman’s research suggests that while the ‘expert’ can be have a narrow, fixed view based on previous knowledge and experience, the Rookie is open to and actively seeks out new ways of doing things.
Since the industrial revolution kicked-off in the 18th century; there has been an almost fanatic focus on the role of the expert. This is reflected in our public education systems who are tasked with churning them out. But knowledge and experience; in and of themselves, aren’t going to cut-it in this emerging knowledge revolution – the so-called 4th revolution.
Western Governments and organisations have spent decades evolving policies, statutes and by-laws into layers of bureaucracy for everything imaginable; and a few ‘unimaginable things as well. For example; in the UK, “it is illegal to import potatoes into England and Wales if you have reasonable cause to suspect that they are Polish” (it’s the ascent that gives them away) or; in July 2013 a law was passed in China that states “it is illegal for adult children to ‘not’ visit their parents ‘often’” with a footnote that “they are also required to attend to their parent’s spiritual needs” (Wow – though technically they did invent zen).
It had to happen eventually. The first fatal accident in a Tesla self-driving car. And of course some commentators have been quick to jump on ‘The Sky-Is-Falling’ bandwagon like ‘The Guardian’, who suggest consumers will ‘second-guess the trust they put in the booming autonomous vehicle industry’. And I’m sure Henry Bliss would agree; if he were still alive. Mr. Bliss has the unfortunate distinction of being the first recorded person in US history to be killed in a motor vehicle accident on September 14, 1899. Like the recent Tesla accident, at the time many commentators were no doubt quick to voice alarm and FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) about the dangers of this emerging ‘horseless-carriage’ technology. At first glance it seems a natural, even appropriate human reaction, to treat new and strange contraptions with skepticism; for some that means sticking our fingers in our ears and yelling: “la la, la, la, la, la”?
I was struck recently by how many organisations have forgotten how to use the three best communications and information gathering devices on the planet; our eyes, ears and tongues. We’re relying instead on a plethora of gadgets in an attempt to glean what is going on within our organisations and the wider world. This was underscored for me recently; and possibly ironically, by the linked story on a New Zealand news website of a NZ school that has erected a sign warning drivers to look out for texting teenagers. The presumption being of course that they’re not paying any attention at all to what is going on around them. The story made me smile; with perhaps just a hint of smug condescension.
I still meet the odd business-as-usual (BAU) ‘Digital Transformation Denier’. Frankly I think the jury is out. The digital transformation wave is hitting the beach now. The question; in my view, is not ‘is it happening’ but rather ‘do I want to be on the wave or left behind’? The key question then is ‘how to catch the wave’? This blog is directed at that last question.
Grant Reid wrote: “Hi Martin, I'm curious, how did the internal perception of GIS team change after they made this useful data available to the public? For example, did funding for GIS increase? Did people start bringing new opportunities to the team?”
Great question. Firstly, many commentators like to point out that the situation at CERA was unique. My response has always been: ‘Maybe; but success demands no explanation, and failure not alibi’.
With CERA closing its doors for the last time yesterday; I was reflecting on my nearly five years of involvement at CERA including the design, implementation and direction of their world-leading spatial data infrastructure (SDI). Notwithstanding the CERA SDI winning the Technical Excellence category at the inaugural 2014 NZ Spatial Excellence Awards, most of those five years was so full-on there was little time for reflection. Before CERA and the events from 2011 to 2016 pass into the annuals of history; myself with friend and colleague Stephen Ferriss took some time out to reflect on and capture what happened in Christchurch, what we learnt and the possibilities and implications for the geospatial sector; indeed, the Whole of Government. This is assembled in the linked whitepaper on which we would encourage and welcome comment and discussion.
Last year I posted a blog ‘How to cure schizophrenic organisations’. My proposition in that blog was that organisations, like sufferers of the neurodevelopmental disorders autism and schizophrenia; have an information-gating deficit i.e. poor processes for separating the information ‘chaff’ from the critical and important. Everyone, from customers, staff to senior managers struggle to figure out what they should be paying attention to; and what to ignore. There is information coming at them all at once, at the same speed, at the same volume. It’s the information equivalent of ‘Where’s Wally’................
In my last post I talked about the lack of innovation within most organisations and how a combination of our education system and organisational culture have created this ‘Kill the Chicken’ environment.
Comfort is the enemy of innovation. Whatever other elements might come into play, why would you move from a status quo of low-risk typified by abundance and plenty? Necessity is the mother of invention; an old chestnut I know but still true. That said neither scarcity nor repetitive failure is necessarily sufficient to drive innovation............
Philosopher George Santayana described fanaticism as "redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim." Are our organisations full of IT fanatics? Doggedly following practices that were appropriate; even cutting edge ten years ago but are now woefully out of step with the communications demands of a 21st century organisation?
A great article linked below by Jason Boucher about why we have fire extinguishers. Think about it. I have a fire extinguisher in my pantry. I bought it hoping I’d never have to use it.
A Social Media Crisis Management Policy and Action Plan is now a critical part of your organisations Disaster Recover (DR) and Business Continuity (BC) Plans which; like the fire extinguisher, are your ‘hope for the best; plan for the worst’ plans.
And like a grease fire in your kitchen, a negative Social Media story can spread as quickly as; well; wild-fire; regardless of the facts. An emergency response plan is you timely, reasoned, logical 'how-to' guide when you are up to your arm-pits in a fraught and typically emotional situation; rather than trying to work out what happened and what to do about it as a crisis unfolds. To quote Kenny; there’ll be time enough for counting; when the dealing’s done.
Over the years I’ve got to work in and with many different organisations; often in a trouble-shooting role. Typically, by the time we arrive, things are a mess. Characteristics typically include: a failure to recognise what is really going on, both within the own organisation or events affecting it from outside; incorrect assumptions about what is really going on, both within the own organisation or events affecting it from outside; unclear and confused thinking at a strategic and tactical level; inability to adequately communicate; persistent, repetitive failure; and slow, ineffective, often non-existent communication channels.
Many years ago I realised that these symptoms are almost identical to those of people suffering neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and schizophrenia.
Many organisations have gone down the prohibition route by simply ‘banning’ attachments in emails or imposing impractical ‘red flag’ rules; so-called from the laws enacted by the United Kingdom and the United States in the late 19th century, requiring drivers of early automobiles to have a pedestrian walking in front waving a red flag to warn bystanders of the vehicle's approach.
