One thing you can bet on this time of year is “resolutions”.
And now that 2008 is behind us, experts, leaders and politicians are offering all types of information. Some offer top 10 events of 2008 and some provide lists of past and future incidents and challenges that organizations will need to manage and oversee more effectively in 2009 and beyond.
There is no doubt that these experts, leaders and politicians mean well and there is no doubt they are attempting to offer valuable information to help organizations more successfully address escalating challenges especially now due to limited budgets and limited resources. But…(yes I know saying but after a comment can sometimes nullify the previous comment)…But to actually help organizational leaders take proactive steps I must share the following advice:
1) A bunch of Information is not Knowledge.
2) Megaphone Management is not working.
In my previous 27+ years of experience, I have experienced 27 different “new years” and at least 27 different versions of New Year’s resolutions. Unfortunately most organizational leaders take a ‘bunch of information’ and broadcast it out to employees, partners and others and expect everyone to understand what the information means and how to implement all the information so decisions and results are better in the new year.
I think we can all agree that this status quo approach is causing a lot of the problems we are now facing in 2009 and beyond.
For “a bunch of information” to be usable, the information needs to be translated into customized knowledge for your organization so your people can use this knowledge to make better decisions.
And “megaphone management” is not working because when you blast out information in e-mails and memos and binders and on intranets, organizations have no idea if the right people got the right information and no idea if anyone understood what, why, where and how the information should be utilized.
In future blog comments, I will provide examples of incidents, events and lessons learned that will help explain how next generation knowledge management efforts will be a key to success in 2009 and beyond.