No "delusions of grandeur"

No, I am not getting "delusions of grandeur" as a fellow blogger kindly suggested to me in an email telling me basically not to talk bad about the recently published book by Thomas Davenport. I strongly believe that KM can be a lot more than what the"keynote speakers", "founding fathers" and "distinguished authors" tell you or the software vendors try to sell you without losing a single thought on meaningful measures or culture. It needs a clear link to strategy and the means to understand if it successfully supports that strategy. In a law firm environment there is "neither input nor output that is not knowledge" (Hunter et al. 2002). Of course a laissez-faire approach, against which Davenport warns, is not up for discussion in such an environment.

I think the basic questions and steps to take are:

1. Ask yourself why you want or need to do KM
   Revisit your strategy or get yourself one if you have none. Ask the right questions, such as Why are we managing knowledge? What are the business imperatives? How can we make a difference in client service? How can know we are doing the right thing? What is our raison d'être within the business?
   I still consider the balanced scorecard framework and implementation steps the best suitable framework for this. After all, it is a pattern and not a straightjacket.
2. Derive measures from strategy
   It doesnt need to be a full set of cause and effect relationships (a success map) from the very start. Start gradually with loosely connected indicators but dont loose track of what is important. Dont measure simply because you can and a certain measure is easily available. Measure the things you expect to make a difference.
   
3. Test and refine these measures
   See if they correlate, see if the framework makes sense. See if there really is cause and effect.
   
4. Concentrate on the key measures identified
   How can we excel in the areas we measure? Are they still valid? As reality changes, so do the needs for measures. Redirect resources to those identified as vital and away from those lower in the order of significance.
   

And the beauty of all this is you wont even need complicated software or consultants for all this and it will give you at least some of these outcomes:

• A single management dashboard for a complex task
• Better understanding of KM on all levels of the organisation
  
• More efficient KM services
• The ability to measure and report on cost and resource allocation
• The ability to efficiently track the changing impact of KM and KM initiatives
• Improved responsiveness to financial and organisational issues as they arise
• Improved communication with stakeholders about the services KM provides
• Help in the process of determining returns on investment in KM applications and services.

As Mike Bourne et al. say in their 2003 article: "Measurement has to lead to insight and insight to action". That would be the best possible outcome: Action based on insight based on measures.

Anyways, I learned a phrase today: delusions of grandeur. I use dict.leo.org in cases where I dont understand a word or phrase. dict.leo.org is a good example of a very useful website generated with the help of a lot of people who did not only take from but also give to a free service. And as for the delusions of grandeur: I am not claiming I could write a better book than Davenport and looking at my (almost finished) dissertation I cant say it is the cradle of wisdom, but at least I still have to try the best I can. And I have the right to be annoyed for having spent money on a book that did not get me any further than where I was before.