Knowledge Matters
Connectivity Paralysis
I've not blogged for almost a month for several reasons. First my current employer has some restrictions concerning blog topics, and I've been working out just what this means. Second I'm so connected that I'm paralysed!
The Power of Number Visualisation
I don't idly web-surf very often, but today I am and it has proven fruitful. I like numbers and I like visualisations even more, so naturally I like the web site of Chris Jordon which is called Running the Numbers: an American Self Portrait . Chris has come up with the novel idea of depicting statistics using multiple images of the statistic in question.
Happy Flu Network Diffusion Experiment
Matthieu Latapy is a network researcher at the National Centre for Scientific Research (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) in France. He is doing network research to counter peer-to-peer paedophile content - something I think we would all agree is very worthwhile!
Network Analysis Seminar and Workshop
On Friday the 4th of July 2008 I am once again running a half-day seminar called “Introducing Network Analysis as a Research Technique ”. This time the seminar will be followed in the afternoon by a practical workshop that builds on the mornings activities and introduces participants to UCINET and NetDraw .
A Billion Dollar Knowledge Transfer Mistake!
The United States Air Force lost a B2 Stealth Bomber valued at $US 1.4 billion because of a failure to transfer knowledge between pilots and maintenance technicians. The bomber crashed earlier this year at Andersen Air Force Base on the island of Guam. Apparently water distorted pre-flight readings in three of the plane's 24 sensors, making the aircraft's control computer force the B-2 to pitch up on takeoff, resulting in a stall and subsequent crash.
Conference Week in Australia
actKM 08 will be held on the 14th and 15th of October 2008 at University House, the Australian National University, Canberra. The theme is 'Managing Knowledge for Competitive Advantage', which is hardly original, but the organising committee promise it will be highly participative and interactive. They are seeking submissions at the moment with a preference for interactive or experiential activities that engage conference participants in a learning or competitive environment.
The Shadow Organisation and Network Analysis
I recently came across this blog-post by Marc Aafjes on what he calls the Shadow Organisation. Marc says:
Theories of Communication Networks
I purchased this book on the recommendation of a colleague. Unusually for me it has taken many months to read, and I have found it a hard slog - I simply could not maintain my interest. The content is dense and at times challenging.
Organisational Restructuring
The organisation I am working for at the moment is under considerable pressure to restructure. Now I've been through lots of restructures in the past, and few if any restructures have achieved what they were supposed to. One of the reasons for this, in my opinion, is the failure to recognise the realities of how people work.
The Six Knows Model and Visual Thinking
A simple model which I find useful is the “Six Knows Knowledge Model ” shown below. The model has its origins in the Rudyard Kipling poem “I Keep Six Honest Serving-Men ” , but no doubt I will be challenged on this assertion! That said it is a model that serves me well, except I would add ‘know how much’ as a node.
Hyper-analysis, Decision Paralysis, and Learned Helplessness
Yesterday my theme was corporate amnesia - the loss of collective organisational memory resulting from physical and psychological organisational trauma associated with change.
