Oh Grow up and behave like an Adult!!
I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted, so come along for the ride today!
Was reading Nick Milton’s post on KM Governance this morning and it triggered something in my mind regarding something I read yesterday, a quote by Jan Carlzon, the former head of SAS:
“An individual without information cannot take responsibility; an individual who is given information cannot help but take responsibility.”
In Nick’s post he states: If you are a manager and you want to get something done in your organization, you need to set three things in place. • Firstly, you need to make it very clear what you want done. • Secondly, you have to give people the tools and the training to do it. • Thirdly, you need to check that they’ve done what you want.
Based on my interpretation of Nick’s words and the rest of his post, Nick goes on to indicate that KM governance is needed in order to ensure KM gets done within an organization. I’m not quite sure I agree with that.
I’m trying to find the integration of Jan’s statement with Nick’s. I’m getting a sense that Jan’s statement assumes an adult to adult level of human interaction, while Nick’s gives me the sense of an Adult to child interaction.
I believe that what gets measured doesn’t necessarily get done, it’s really what gets reinforced that gets done. Saying you measure something, does not mean that it will change behavior. It’s only the potential for consequences that changes behavior, and sometimes not even that! (I have an 11 year old son and can provide proof!)
And then I think about Bob Buckman’s talk on KM that I found on David Gurteen’s website (where I first heard about Jan’s statement). (Bob Buckman was the CEO of Buckman Laboratories and truly embedded a knowledge sharing culture into his organization.) Bob basically says that based on his research over about 2 years, that in fact, giving people direct access to information (knowledge) will result in their taking responsibility and doing what needs to be done a good 75% of the time. Then there’s this statement by Bob:
“Our approach (to KM) is far more than stick or carrot. We say, “Knowledge Sharing is your job. Do it!” As a reward you may keep your job.” Bob Buckman President & Chairman, The Applied Knowledge Group
Which takes me full circle to Nick’s more recent post about IBM’s social computing guidelines where their last guideline (IBM’s) states that you shouldn’t allow social computing to interfere with your job or client commitments. In other words, sharing knowledge through social networking occurs outside your “day job”. Which is something that really boggles the mind to me (and to Nick), because we absolutely believe that it cannot be de-coupled from your day job, especially if you are considered a “knowledge worker”. Knowledge is your day job!
So here’s the question, if the tasks and activities related to sharing knowledge truly are embedded into your “job”, then why would you need KM governance. I’m going to suggest that you will find a need for KM governance in organizations that are still in a “control information” culture vs an “open information” culture like Buckman Labs. If an organization truly wants their leaders and employees to have a knowledge sharing culture then there must be a drive to get all information to all employees regardless of the job in that organization. Thus creating an environment where every leader and employee can do nothing but take responsibility for getting the job done.
I’ll also suggest we need to change the language of our stories to represent adult to adult interactions, not adult to child interactions. I tell my son over and over, I’m the adult, you are the child, over time, I expect your behavior to move towards adult behavior and take responsibility.
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Hi Lisa
maybe we can reconcile the statements this way
• Firstly, as a leader you need to make it very clear if you are expecting people to start to take responsibility
• Secondly, you have to give people the information they need to be able to take responsibility
• Thirdly, you need to check that they’ve taken the responsibility, to reinforce the ones who have, and support the ones who haven’t
You ask, if KM is part of the day job, does it need governance?
Yes, it does. Any job needs governance. Governance is not control or micromanagement; its not the opposite of empowerment, its the opposite of anarchy. How would you manage your finances without governance? Probably a lot like Enron. How would you manage risk and safety without governance? Probably in a risky way!
And if KM is your dayjob, it falls under the governance of the day job. In BP Projects, for example, KM is embedded in the Major Projects Common Process, and KM governance is part of the MPCP governance system.
KM goverenance is not about controlling information, its about maintaining culture. Often I cite Bob Buckman as a good example of governance. He makes it clear what he expects of the company, he gives them the tools, the IT, the information and the knowledge, and he knows who is complying and who isnt. And if you aren’t complying with the company expectation, he has a stick rather than a carrot.
That, for me *is* goivernance, and Bob is the guv’nor (as we say in the uk)
Hope this clarifies